Richards wants final spot for England

Micah Richards says England are "relishing the challenge" of competing at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship and are determined to improve on their showing in 2007 when they suffered semi-final heartbreak.

Maximum points
Stuart Pearce's side swept into the semi-finals last night, defeating Spain 2-0 through second-half goals from Fraizer Campbell and James Milner to move on to six points in Group B after an opening 2-1 victory against Finland. Next up are Germany in Halmstad on Monday, when a point will be enough to seal top spot in the section and a return to Gothenburg a week today in the last four. "We don't want this to be like two years ago when we buckled in the semi-finals – hopefully we can get to the final this time," Richards said.

'Outstanding performance'
After scoring a headed winner against Finland, the Manchester City FC centre-back was as effective at the other end of the pitch against Spain, his commanding display snuffing out Bojan Krkić and Co to earn him the man of the match award. "We started off a bit shaky and then towards the end of the game we got into it," Richards told uefa.com. "Credit to Spain, they're a good passing side, but we blocked them out and got the three points which was important. It was an outstanding performance."

Muamba influence
Richards was keen to deflect attention away from his own display – "I try to play as well as I can in every game" – and instead singled out defensive midfielder Fabrice Muamba as the most deserving recipient of his award. "I thought he played really well. They found it really hard to break us down and he was key to that." Theo Walcott's cameo also caught the eye, England scoring both goals – the second after an explosive run from the Arsenal FC winger – within eleven minutes of his introduction.

'Quality'
Pearce had indicated that he would have no hesitation starting his star player from the bench, despite Walcott impressing Fabio Capello enough to feature in two FIFA World Cup qualifiers in the run-up to these finals. "Theo's been with the seniors so is going to be starting and resting as he's had a lot of games over the last three months," said Richards of his omission for Adam Johnson. "The manager did well to bring him on when he did as he created the second goal. We've got a quality 23-man squad – if people don't play there are others who come in a do a job."

Germany next
Pearce has been keen to stress England's team ethic and strength in depth during the team's stay in Sweden, yet he may resist the temptation to field a number of his fringe players at Örjans vall on Monday. "When you're involved in these tournaments, if you take your foot of the gas for one moment, it's fatal," he said. Richards sounded a similar note, adding: "We won't be more relaxed [against Germany]. We're relishing the challenge and take every game as it comes. They're supposed to be a big physical team, good passers of the ball, so we'll look forward to that."