England U21s boss Aidy Boothroyd has challenged his squad to live up to their billing as favourites to win Wednesday’s semi-final over Scotland.
The Young Lions have progressed to the final four of this year’s Maurice Revello Tournament in Toulon, a competition they have won twice in the last two years.
And they’re now set to meet the ‘Auld Enemy’ Scotland on Wednesday evening with a place in the Final up for grabs and a repeat of last year’s semi-final which England won by 3-0.
"It's the Auld Enemy and everything which comes with that, so it's up to us to win that battle and then let our football do the talking,” said Boothroyd, whose side have already played and beaten Scotland this season in their Euro qualifying group.
“They're a tough team and will be a tough nut to crack.
"Playing for England, the boys have to be able to deal with playing as favourites, in the same way that sometimes we'll be underdogs on other occasions.
"They're different labels, but the same thing applies and we've got to go out and focus on what we've been practising and what's worked in the games so far.”
Boothroyd and his squad emerged from the group stage with victories over China and Qatar and a draw with Mexico, who will play Turkey in the other semi-final.
And after travelling to the south of France with something of an experimental squad, the head coach is happy with the trip so far.
"We're really pleased with how it's all gone,” he revealed.
"We've had some interesting games against teams which we wouldn't normally play so it's really useful.
"We've been trying a few things and mirroring the first team in terms of what they're doing because it's the next step up.
“So we're experimenting with things, but at the same time trying to develop players and win.”
You can watch Wednesday’s semi-final live on FreeSports which can be found on Freeview channel 95, Sky channel 422, BT channel 95, Freesat channel 252 and TalkTalk TV channel 95.
