Marathon not a sprint for Group A hopefuls

Group A of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship commences on Tuesday with a meeting of holders England and much fancied France, as well as hosts Serbia and "dark horses" Denmark.

John Peacock, in his seventh U17 final tournament, is looking to defend the title his team won in Liechtenstein last year having beaten last summer's runners-up Spain in their final elite round fixture. They open their campaign in Indjija against a France side who enjoyed an equally eye-catching denouement to qualifying, defeating Belarus 9-0 to overtake Norway on goal difference.

"We have great memories of succeeding in that tournament but we have to look forward," said Peacock, who is without suspended defender Nathaniel Chalobah for the first game. "We have to try and push on from our good qualification. We have a very difficult task because there are three excellent teams in this group. I don't think there are any secrets in the game anymore. We get lots of DVDs of the opposition.

"It helps when you get off to a good start – one or three points – it sets you up nicely for the next two games. But it's about managing the tournament – the three games will be very difficult but we hope by the end of it we give ourselves a chance of getting to the final stages."

Peacock's France counterpart, Patrick Gonfalone, was equally pragmatic about his team's section. "It's important to start the group phase as strongly as possible, but it's a group phase and there are three matches – they're all very important," he said. "We know the strengths of our opponents and all the teams will be difficult to beat."

Serbia, by contrast, were assured of a finals berth as hosts, making their task all the more difficult according to coach Milovan Djorić – without usual captain Marko Pavlovski – ahead of their Novi Sad meeting with Denmark. "I wish the other coaches a lot of luck, just not as much as us," he quipped. "We played a lot of friendly games. I think it's an advantage for a team to have gone through qualification because qualifiers are one thing and friendlies are something different.

"We must be realistic – England and France are big football countries, so on paper they are favourites. Our focus is on Denmark because for both sides that will probably be their best chance of qualifying for the FIFA U-17 World Cup [by finishing in the top three in the section]. But we will not be afraid of the subsequent games. I am afraid of only one thing: rain!"

Denmark's Thomas Frank is also in confident mood as his charges prepare for their first finals appearance in eight years. "The team has big potential and I hope we can cause a few surprises," he said. "The draw could be worse. France are very physically strong, well organised and they have some good individuals.

"We know England are strong, they're fast and now they have the skill and technique. I believe in my team and [our opponents] have to look out for us. If they don't do that I think we will be the dark horses in this group."