Peacock prepares England's title defence

Last year England won the UEFA European Under-17 Championship for the first time and having knocked out the team they beat in that final, Spain, in the elite round, John Peacock's team are back again in Serbia.

They open Group A next Tuesday against their 2010 semi-final victims France, before facing Denmark and the hosts, and Peacock told UEFA.com that they face a tough section but that knocking out Spain has given them "fantastic confidence".

UEFA.com: What do you think of your draw?

John Peacock: Both groups are fair groups. Obviously very tough still because we are in the final eight. I've seen Serbia once at the beginning of the season when they played Sweden in a friendly. I've not seen France play, I've not seen Denmark play. I'm very much in the dark but we had enough to do to qualify first.

UEFA.com: Indeed, you had to beat Spain, who seldom fail to qualify and who you played in last year's final...

Peacock: It gives us confidence. I have a lot of respect for Spanish football, they've been fantastic for the last ten years in particular. We can take a lot of credit from the way we played that game and the tournament in general. I'm sure it will give us confidence for the finals.

UEFA.com: How are the team approaching the tournament as defending champions?

Peacock: The players will want to emulate what the group did last year. I see no reason why not, they've had a fantastic qualification. They are a good group to work with, very focused. I see lots of similarities between last year's group and this year's, and we'll just have to wait and see. It's a tough group to get through and like the old adage we'll take it one game at a time. We are looking no further now than France.

Every time I see [last season's final], and I've seen it a few times recently, it always brings back great memories. Let's hope we can build on it.

UEFA.com: How important is the goal of FIFA U-17 World Cup qualification?

Peacock: I think we missed out a couple of years ago when we didn't do ourselves justice in Germany. We got there in 2007 in Korea, that was a fantastic experience for me and the whole team. It's nice to see the likes of Danny Welbeck, who was in that group, get his first senior cap. Those experiences come once in a lifetime in some cases and it would be fantastic to get there.

UEFA.com: Is England's now consistent success at youth level boding well for senior level?

Peacock: The credit is due to the clubs. People in England say we're not producing players but I don't agree. We've got a good crop of young players coming through the system. We've qualified at 19s and 21s on a regular basis. I look back to the 90s when France were setting the benchmark in terms of qualifying for everything and winning European titles. Then it became Spain and Germany, and it's nice England are there or thereabouts every year.