Alex Kiwomya has issued a rallying cry to his England U19s team-mates ahead of their opening raft of Euro qualifiers.
Sean O’Driscoll’s side are in Luxembourg where they will take on Belarus, Belgium and the host nation in a round-robin tournament, with the top two nations progressing to the elite qualifying round.
The Chelsea forward, who played in last month’s 1-1 friendly draw in Germany, said: “These qualifiers are about experience. But they're also about winning.
England v Belarus
UEFA U19 Championship
First Qualifying Round
3.30pm BST, Friday 10 October
Luxembourg
“Everyone looks at England teams as one of the top countries in football.
"We are always expected to do well in every age group and we don’t want to be the ones to let the country down. We have got to live up to those expectations.
"We can’t slack off in any of these games, we can’t think that there will be a next time. It’s must-win.”
Three players in O’Driscoll’s 18-man squad have displayed the winning mentality Kiwomya - himself a two-time FA Youth Cup winner - has asked for.
Freddie Woodman, Izzy Brown and Patrick Roberts were part of England’s U17s squad that won the European Championship in May – and Kiwomya believes their elevation to the U19s will help the rest of the group.
He added: “The fact they are a bit younger than the rest of the lads doesn’t mean a thing.
"They have definitely got the quality and the fact they already have winners’ medals means they have got that experience which can hopefully help the rest of the team.
“We need to show that winning mentality”
Alex Kiwomya on Euro qualifiers
“But we also need the older players this week, players like Bryn [Morris] who keeps us on our toes and keeps on encouraging us. We’ve got some big characters here and they will all step up.”
This qualifying campaign is O’Driscoll’s first assignment as the U19s’ new head coach and Kiwomya, a late squad replacement for Demarai Gray, has been impressed with the former Bristol City manager’s brief time in charge.
He said: “We’ve all got trust in the manager. I think he has been brilliant so far.
“He spoke to me just before he called me up to tell me what he thought I was doing right and what I could improve on and that was brilliant.
"He gave me some really good information and now I know a bit more about what I need to work on and why.
“It let me know where he thinks I’m at and it gave me a really big boost.”
