Keith Downing: England U19s 'have a definite focus'

The Young Lions have been training at St. George’s Park since meeting up at the weekend in preparation for their season opener against the Dutch in Telford, before heading to Brussels for a game with Belgium on Sunday.

And Downing is pleased to get the term underway with matches against the level of opponents they will need to overcome if they are to reach their target of the Euro Finals next summer.

"It’s an important year for the Under-19s," said Downing, who takes over as head coach after spending last season in charge of the U20s. 

"With Euro Qualifiers and hopefully the Euro Finals at the end of the season, it will be a good test for us to play the Netherlands and then Belgium. 

"The Dutch always provide a tactical and technical test for us and Belgium will be a really good challenge away from home, so it’s two good opening games to the season for us and it gives myself, assistant Mark Robson and goalkeeper coach Eric Steele a chance to look and work with the squad and we’ll know a lot from the two games.

"I’m expecting an entertaining game of football [against Netherlands], they produce good, young footballers and I prefer to play tougher teams and set challenges to find out about the players quicker. 

"I’m sure it will be a decent match and it will give myself a chance to get into the guys and see how they cope with those really difficult challenges."

With two more preparation games to follow against Croatia and Bulgaria next month, Downing’s side begin their Euro campaign in November with the first qualifying round across the border in Wales against Greece, Luxembourg and the hosts.

And the former West Bromwich Albion coach is glad to be able to set an early target for his charges, with two qualification rounds to progress through ahead of the Euro Finals in Georgia next July.

"We have a target this season with the European U19 Championship and that’s the beauty of this season, there’s an end goal for us to look at and the first priority is to qualify, which means coming through two group stages," he told the official England match programme. 

"There is a definite focus to this year and hopefully we can go as far as we can towards that.

"The U19s is an exciting age group to work with. Some of the players have already had first team experience and others are still playing U23 age group football with their clubs and waiting for that chance to breakthrough. 

"It’s an exciting time for them as players as there is a lot of changes and new challenges for them with their clubs as well as the internationals. It’s a good test for them and it’s important for them to develop and improve through these experiences."

Tickets for Thursday’s game with the Dutch cost just £3 for adults and £1.50 for concessions and will be available on the day at the New Buck’s Head Stadium in Telford.