Will Patching is hoping practice makes perfect in Chile

Will Patching is hoping practice makes perfect as he and his England teammates get ready for their FIFA Under-17 World Cup opener.

The Manchester City midfielder and his Young Lions’ colleagues face Guinea in their first group match on Saturday at the showpiece tournament in Chile.

They met the host nation in their final friendly on Sunday, battling to a 0-0 draw in front of a vocal home crowd, but Patching came close to claiming victory when his late free-kick was brilliantly saved by the Chilean goalkeeper.

He found the target in a 3-1 win over France last season with a set-piece and, ahead of their opening match, Patching believes it could prove to be a vital weapon in the arsenal in their quest for glory in South America.

“If I had put it a yard to the left it would have gone in. I practice my free-kicks after training all the time, trying different techniques and putting them in different places,” he told TheFA.com. 

“A set-piece is a good weapon to have, especially in a tournament like this when the games could be tight. Practice is vital so that when the time comes you have the confidence to know that you can pull it off. 

"If I’d stuck that one in on Sunday then we could have won it 1-0, so I’ll keep working on them and hopefully I can make one count out here.” 

Will Patching and Danny Collinge in training

And although no extra motivation is needed, having been handed the no7 shirt for the tournament, Patching is dreaming of following in the footsteps of a Three Lions icon.

“Even though my position isn’t really a number seven position, I like the number. It’s what David Beckham used to wear for England, and obviously he produced some vital moments for England with set-pieces, so I’d love to be able to hopefully do the same for us.”

The match on Sunday against the hosts provided the Young Lions with the ideal experience heading into the World Cup, and Patching says it was a night he will remember for a long time. 

On playing against La Roja in front of a very partisan 8,500 crowd, he said: “It was a great experience playing in front of a large crowd, even though they gave us a bit of stick, it was good to get a taste of that. 

“When we play in England, you usually don’t get that many people coming to watch you, so to have thousands there in a big stadium, it was really special.”

Action from Sunday's game versus Chile

The squad flew from Santiago to La Serena on Monday afternoon, the town they will be based in for the group stages. 

Having now settled into their new home and completed their warm-up matches, Patching says the hard work now begins. 

“That is the second part of our warm up done, after the Chile game and travel day, now we have to fully focus on the opening game. 

“We’ve had a lot of good preparation with two tough games, but have arrived at our base we are settling in. 

“We’ve had our first training session in La Serena and we are now getting down to business ahead ahead of Saturday. 

"We still have a lot of hard work to do between now and then to ensure we start with a victory.”