England U21s boss admits there is still work for his team despite victory over Italy

Aidy Boothroyd couldn't hide his delight at seeing England Under-21s seal a thrilling 3-2 victory over Italy, but knows there is still "a bit of work to do" for his team.

The Young Lions left it late at St. Mary's, where Southampton defender Jack Stephens scored a stoppage-time winner after Boothroyd's side had found themselves 2-1 down at half time.

And the interim head coach admits that it was the ideal scenario for him, as England begin their preparations for next summer's European Championship against a team who will also be heading to the finals in Poland.

"That's the way to win a game, we'd planned it all along, obviously," joked Boothroyd, after the game.

"It's clear that the opposition gave us all sorts of problems across the park, which we had to overcome.

"But we hit the bar, we hit the post, we had what we thought was a definite penalty and we managed to score three goals so we're really pleased with the attacking side of the game.

"It's just elsewhere, we have a bit of work to do and I think that's clear to see."

It had been a dream start for Boothroyd's team, who took a sixth-minute lead through Demarai Gray and spurned more chances before the Azzurri turned the game on its head before the break.

England U19s take on Italy

But after re-grouping for the second half, Boothroyd saw his team show their character to stretch their unbeaten record to 15 games with their last reverse ironically coming at the hands of Italy in the 2015 Euro finals in Czech Republic.

"I think with this crop of players and those in the older age groups, they start to understand the game a bit more and they already know what the problems are when you go in [for half time], so that makes your job a bit easier," he explained.

"We made a few tactical changes and we had to adjust a couple of times in the second half, but we managed to stop the Italians coming onto us and we gave them a few problems going the other way.

"But it was a really good way to win the game and it was great that Jack could score the goal as well."

Boothroyd and his squad will be heading to Paris for their next game, where they will face France on Monday evening.