Demarai Gray admits he’s relishing the responsibility as one of the senior figures in the England U21s squad this summer.
The Leicester City forward is heading to his second U21 EURO Finals, having also been a key man for the campaign in Poland two years ago.
It seems a long time since a precocious 19-year-old Gray made his U21s debut back in March 2016, with a man-of-the-match performance under Gareth Southgate in a 1-1 draw with Switzerland.
He’s since gone on to become a key figure in the squad and as he approaches what will be his last tournament for the Young Lions, Gray is hoping to put his experience to good use in Italy as England prepare to fly out to their tournament base in Cesena.
“I have more responsibility now, but I like that,” admitted the former Birmingham City player.
“I'll be helping the young lads who are coming through like Phil [Foden], who has had an amazing season with City, but then all the lads have played in tournaments with England at different levels.
“So they know what is involved but this tournament is different. It’s a proper tournament, similar to what you see with the seniors on TV and a completely different ball game to the qualifiers and friendlies.
“There’s no time to ease your way into this tournament. As soon as we get there we will have to be on it.
“One mistake or moment of sloppiness and it's over, the Euros is gone. It's big.”
That’s a feeling which Gray has already suffered, as he featured in the semi-final penalty shootout defeat against eventual champions Germany two years ago.
Strikes from Gray and Tammy Abraham had put England 2-1 up in that game, before Germany equalised and the game went the distance.
“That still annoys me because we were so close to winning it,” he added.
“We battered Germany in the semi-final and were 2-1 up when we conceded a sloppy equaliser.
“Everyone was raving about Spain in that tournament but Germany beat them in the final. We were so close.
“Now, I think I'm fortunate to have the opportunity to go back and this time, hopefully go to the end.
“This is the biggest tournament outside of senior level this summer, it’s my last Euros, and I want to win it to end my U21s career on a high.”
All of England's games in the 2019 U21 EURO will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK, starting with England's opener against France on Tuesday 18 June (8pm).
