England eager to earn finals place

England may be unbeaten this season but manager Brian Eastick is taking nothing for granted when Czech Republic, Russia and the Netherlands come to visit in UEFA European Under-19 Championship Elite round Group 3.

Winning run
Eastick's side sat out the qualifying round by virtue of their UEFA coefficient ranking, and opened the season with draws in their first four friendly fixtures, against the Netherlands (0-0), Spain (1-1), Austria (3-3) and Italy (1-1). Switzerland were then defeated 3-2 in November, however, and wins against Poland (4-1) and Turkey (1-0) have followed, although the England manager recognises the stakes are considerably higher now with the group winners going through to the July finals in Austria.

'Excellent opposition'
"Friendly games are different to competitive mini-tournaments," said Eastick, who is without Everton FC striker James Vaughan so Hogan Ephraim and Chris Martin are likely to lead the attack. "We are faced with three matches in six days against excellent opposition and the ability to stay in the game when the opposition are playing well will be required. We want to play attractive, entertaining and positive football but defending well is also important. The best teams usually have a good spell during the game and that's when these qualities will be tested."

Czech challenge
A young Czech squad features six members of the side that reached the final of last year's European U17 Championship, including SK Slavia Praha forward Tomáš Necid who finished as the joint top scorer at that tournament with five goals and scored both against Turkey to seal first place in Group 10 last autumn. Jan Blažek struck four times in that qualifying round while midfielder Jan Hable captained Europe at February's UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup but is struggling with a knee injury. "This group is even tougher than at a final tournament because only one side can advance," said coach Augustin Chromý. "England are slight favourites as they are at home but any of the four sides could finish first."

'European élite'
Russia overcame the Czechs in last year's U17 final and won Group 5 in the last stage before a 2-1 friendly win against Italy in February. Coach Ravil Sabitov nevertheless recognises the magnitude of the task ahead, saying: "The élite of European youth football is in this group, giving us a great opportunity to test ourselves and see whether we are heading in the right direction." FC Spartak Moskva striker Artem Dzyuba and the squad's only foreign-based player, Nikita Andreev of FC Levadia Tallinn, both scored twice in the qualifying round although Spartak's Aleksandr Prudnikov has remained with his club.

Netherlands ambition
The Netherlands finished second in Group 3 last autumn but Wim van Zwam is keen to play down expectations. "This squad might have reached the 2005 U17 final but that was a while ago now," he said. "In our recent friendlies, we've learned playing total football does not get you into trouble, but failing to convert your chances does. That's the way of top-level international football." With PSV Eindhoven defender Dirk Marcellis having already made his UEFA Champions League debut and AFC Ajax midfielders Vurnon Anita and Jeffrey Sarpong at his disposal, Van Zwam should not be short of quality.

Additional reporting by Ladislav Josef, Eduard Nisenboim and Berend Scholten