Easah Suliman intent on shutting out the Samba Boys attack

Easah Suliman believes the English backline are gelling at just the right time as they prepare to tackle Brazil at the FIFA Under-17s World Cup on Tuesday.

The Aston Villa defender started the Young Lions’ opening game of the tournament on Saturday as he and his team-mates were held to a 1-1 draw against Guinea.

Now, as the countdown to the clash with the Samba Boys intensifies, Suliman says this is exactly the sort of challenge he relishes.

"These tests are what we thrive on. It’s the World Cup and you want to play and test yourself against the best players so there is no better stage to do that," the centre-half told TheFA.com.

"We have prepared very well for Brazil and we can’t wait for kick-off and trying to get the win.

"It was important to get at least a point from our first game – we could not lose it. Guinea came at us and we dealt with that quite well, so now we have something to build on going into Tuesday.

"I’ve not really had that much experience of games where the fans are against us so much, it was crazy. Although it wasn’t packed out, you could really feel that they wanted Guinea to beat us. It was great for us to get an experience of that."

Naby Bangoura’s strike for the west Africans two days ago was the first time the England defence has been breached this season.

Having kicked off the season with a 2-0 win and a 0-0 draw away to Holland in September, Neil Dewsnip’s side continued their meanness in protecting their net during the 8-0 victory over DR Congo and their goalless encounter with tournament hosts Chile last week.

And the stubbornness of the backline is all down to communication, insists Suliman. 

"I think we are a lot more talkative now and we know each other much better. We have played a lot of games together now so that has obviously helped us, and I think we are gelling now," he said.

"We are getting a lot of clean sheets and that can only help us going forwards.

"That’s what we’ll be targeting against Brazil, and I think we have enough up front to cause them problems. We know that if we can keep them out then the forwards can finish them off up the other end."

The Birmingham-born youngster admits he did not feature for his country as regularly as he would have liked last season.

Although he was a member of the European Championship squad in the summer, the 17-year-old was restricted to two substitute appearances and a start in the World Cup play-off against Spain.

But having been given the vote of confidence for the Guinea clash, Suliman insists he has to keep proving himself to the head coach.

"Last year was a bit disappointing for me as I didn’t really play too much at the Euros in the summer. I had to keep on working hard and not let my head drop and I went back to Villa and enjoyed a good pre-season and start to the campaign with the U18s and U21s," he added.

"I had to stay positive, which I did, then when I’ve come away with England I’ve tried my hardest to show in training why I should be starting.

"Neil has given me that chance now I’ve got to keep proving to him why I deserve to play."

England meet Brazil in La Serena on Tuesday at 9pm, live on Eurosport 2.