Ollie Nugent says England CP have no regrets after their defeat to Russia, and has his sights set on creating history.
The Three Lions lost 5-0 in the quarter-final of the Cerebral Palsy World Championships on Wednesday.
However, as the tournament is positional with vital ranking positions up for grabs, Nugent said the mood is still high and there is plenty to for.
England v USA
Cerebral Palsy World Championships
1pm, Friday 26 June
St. George's Park
Live on TheFA.com
“The atmosphere in the group after the game was still good,” he told TheFA.com.
“We all had lunch, had a recovery session and then we all watched a movie together. Our spirits are high.”
Russia – ranked first in the world and heavily tipped to go on and retain the trophy – took the lead after six minutes and never looked back.
“We know they’re one of the favourites to go on and win the tournament,” continued Nugent.
“We know we just need to improve. There was nobody too down afterwards, just a positive focus on knowing what we need to do and how hard we have to work.”
England can still finish in a record fifth place if they win their next two games
And there is plenty for Nugent and his England team-mates to focus on.
As well as a place at the 2016 Paralympics up for grabs, the Three Lions are two wins away from a record fifth-placed finish.
Something the 17-year-old – who until recently was a full-time trainee with Tranmere Rovers – says they have their hearts set on, especially given the disadvantages they face when it comes to contact time.
“You just have to look at the semi-final lineups,” he continued. "They’re all full-time – or have been up until recently.
“It makes a huge difference. I know from my time with Tranmere how important it is and how much you can improve as a team.
“You can see with Russia also that they don’t need to look where their team-mates will be. They just click. Coming together once a month is a lot harder.
“But if we do manage to come fifth in this tournament it will just show what an achievement that would be.”
“In 10 or 15 years time, perhaps I’ll have kids and I’ll be able to tell them that I was involved in this wonderful tournament”
Ollie Nugent England CP
England take on USA at 1pm on Friday in a third round contest.
If they come through that game they will then meet the winners of Ireland and Argentina on Saturday – with the winners claiming the coveted fifth spot.
And Nugent is confident England can come through the first of those challenges – and then on to achieve something special after that.
“We’ve played America before last year in San Diego,” he added. “We won both games, although they were both tough matches.
“We’re confident going into the game – we know it will be hard but we know if we play like we did in the second half against Russia I’m sure we’ll be OK.
“When it’s all over I just want to look back on this fortnight as a time where we went further than any England team had before.
“In 10 or 15 years time, perhaps I’ll have kids and I’ll be able to tell them that I was involved in this wonderful tournament."
