Head coach Keith Downing praised the character of his young England side after they successfully progressed to the next phase of qualification for the 2017 European Under-19 Championships with a 2-0 win over Greece.
After narrowly losing to Wales on Saturday, Downing’s young charges bounced back with goals from Trent Arnold and Trevoh Chalobah to top Group 6 with six points.
Arnold opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Chris Willock was pulled back as he bore down on goal, with Chalobah making the game safe midway through the second half.
England now find themselves in the elite round of qualifiers bidding for a place in next year's finals thanks to their opening win against Luxembourg.
“We made hard work of qualification but we always knew it would be a tough three matches,” Downing said.
“We are very pleased to get through and we've shown great character after some adversity so I am delighted to be in the next phase.
“We showed good resilience and perseverance and stuck to our game plan. This week has been a great education for the players.
“We have come back from a disappointing setback against Wales which meant we had to come out and win. The whole squad of 18 players have been terrific and worked really hard for each other.
“We've had two clean sheets in the three games and scored six goals against some well organised sides so we are making great strides.”
Greece almost stole a fourth-minute lead when Marious Vrousai's shot was blocked before being gathered England's Aaron Ramsdale.
And it was England who went in front on 20 minutes, Arnold confidently slotting home his spot-kick after good work from Rushian Hepburn-Murphy allowed Willock to out-run three players before being pulled back by Takis Retsos.
Willock tried to snatch another soon after but his chip was plucked out of the air by Marios Siampanis.
Dimitris Limnios then forced England goalkeeper Ramsdale into action at his near post soon after, while Stathis Lamprou saw a 36th-minute header slide just wide.
Limnios went close again when his deflected shot forced another fine save from Ramsdale shortly before half-time.
After the break, Arnold took aim with a free-kick on the edge of the area but the ball whistled past the Greece upright.
Greece failed to heed their warning as Chalobah rose to meet Samuel Field's 63rd-minute corner, powering his header into the net via the underside of the crossbar for England's second.
England substitute Stephy Mavididi threatened to add his name on the scoresheet late on when his incisive run through the centre of the field resulted in him drawing a solid stop from Siampanis.
The draw for the elite round will take place on 13 December.
England Under-19s: 1 Aaron Ramsdale (Sheffield United), 2 Trent Arnold (Liverpool), 14 Easah Suliman (Aston Villa) 6 Trevoh Chalobah (Chelsea), 3 Jay DaSilva (Chelsea), 7 Dujon Sterling (Chelsea), 4 Tom Davies (Everton), 10 Chris Willock (Arsenal), 16 Samuel Field (West Bromwich Albion), 17 Andre Green (Aston Villa), 9 Rushian Hepburn-Murphy (Aston Villa).
Substitutes: 11 Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham) for Green 58, 18 Lukas Nmecha (Manchester City) for Willock 74, 15 Stephy Mavididi (Arsenal) for Hepburn-Murphy 80
Substitutes not used: 13 William Mannion (Hull City), 8 Tayo Edun (Fulham), 12 Darnell Johnson (Leicester City)
Head coach: Keith Downing
Goals: Arnold 20, Chalobah 63.
Greece Under-19s: 1 Marios Siampanis, 22 Konstantinos Panagou, 5 Takis Retsos, 15 Dimitris Nikolaou, 2 Konstantinas Valmas, 11 Marious Vrousai, 16 Spyros Natsos, 8 Theodoros Mingos, 6 Stathis Lamprou, 7 Dimitris Limnios, 19 Nikolaos Sampanidis.
Substitutes: 10 Vangelis Pavlidis for Sampanidis 46, 20 Ioannis Oikonomidis for Vrousai 88, 18 Nemania Milogevits for Limnios 90+3
Substitutes not used: 12 Kostas Kapetanos, 4 Stefanos Evangelou, 9 Antonis Strathopoulos.
Head coach: Ioannis Goumas
Attendance: 260
