'It was a priceless experience that ticked a million boxes'

England Under-17s boss Neil Dewsnip believes his side enjoyed a "priceless" experience as they fought out a 0-0 draw away to Chile on Sunday.

Having finished level after 90 minutes in Rancagua, his Young Lions were defeated 4-3 on penalties in front of a vocal home crowd in their final FIFA World Cup warm-up match.

And as the countdown to Saturday’s big kick-off against Guinea intensifies, Dewsnip says the victory was the only thing lacking from their clash with the tournament hosts.

"It’s ticked a million boxes and it was everything we wanted it to be," he told TheFA.com.

"Although we did lose the shoot-out, in 90 minutes that’s the fourth game on the bounce that this team has not conceded. That is a great platform for us to build on and gives us a fantastic confidence."

The head coach continued: "We missed a few sitters, and with just a bit more care at the other end, we could have won.

"But there are so many positives to take and it just doesn’t get any better than a penalty shoot-out with a partisan crowd fully supporting their team and whistling and jeering ours – for their age it is an experience that is absolutely priceless.

"Everything is starting to come together. We’ve had a lovely environment to work in and to be fair we have had the best possible preparation. From playing DR Congo at St. George’s Park to playing Chile in their own country, with a really aggressive crowd, it’s been fantastic."

The Young Lions squad will now fly to the west coast town of La Serena on Monday to their group stage base ahead of their opener in five days.

Now the match action is over until they meet the west African nation, Dewsnip will allow his charges some relaxation time prior to their departure from Santiago before they rank up the notches once again in the build up to Saturday.

"The message now is that’s the warm up over," he added.

"I’m going to send the lads out shopping to the largest shopping centre in South America before we fly in the afternoon, but we know that we still have a lot of hard work ahead of us before we play Guinea."