Southgate believes his U21s passed big test in Prague

A second-half goal from captain Tom Carroll was enough to beat Czech Republic, who will host this summer’s Euro Finals.

And after keeping a clean sheet despite some heavy pressure from the home side, Southgate was satisfied with the manner of their win.

"It was a really big test and exactly what we wanted," said the head coach.

"We knew the Czechs were big, physical and good on counter attacks and crosses so we had to deal with a lot of that.

"I thought for 25 minutes we really controlled the game well and created a couple of half-decent chances.

"The second half of the first half went a bit scrappy and we didn’t quite connect through midfield as we’d like.

"But we started the second half really well and got the goal but we had to withstand a spell of intense pressure in the last ten or 15 minutes.

England players celebrate Tom Carroll's winner

"That was a good test because you’re playing away from home and 1-0 up, so they’re inevitably going to throw the kitchen sink to try and get the result.

"We had to defend our box a lot, although we could have made some better decisions in terms of our possession to try and relieve that pressure."

The game also offered an opportunity for Southgate to weigh up his options for the summer, and he handed debuts to Marcus Bettinelli, Calum Chambers, Matty Targett and Cauley Woodrow.

And he was also able to make six changes in the second half with Monday’s game against Germany in Middlesbrough in mind.

"Quite a few of the lads are not playing for their clubs, so we’re managing the minutes a little to keep them fresh and also for Monday," said Southgate, who also revealed that Carroll was brought off as a precaution after hurting his ankle whilst scoring the winner.

"It’s a time of the season when young players are a bit tired but there were lots of good things, some debuts which was pleasing, and games for some of the lads that we’ve not seen as much of recently.

"It’s four or five months since we had a game, so to get together again and pick up the style of play as we did, score a super goal and create a lot of good chances, there was lots of pleasing things."

The squad will fly back to north-east England on Saturday afternoon, in preparation for Monday evening's match with Germany at the Riverside Stadium.

Tickets for that game are still on sale, so click here for more details.