Carsley ready for 'exciting times' to lead England's next generation'

Lee Carsley says he’s excited by the prospect of leading the next generation of England players, after extending his contract as men’s under-21s head coach.

The Young Lions boss, currently preparing for this month’s UEFA U21 EURO Finals, has signed a new deal to run through until after the next edition of UEFA’s flagship tournament for the best young players in Europe.

And after leading England to the U21 EURO title two years ago, he’s now looking to help his current crop into defending their crown in Slovakia this summer.

"It was an easy decision to be honest,” admitted Carsley.

“I've really enjoyed my time at the FA, I feel privileged with the position that I'm in and valued as a member of staff so it's exciting times to work with this next generation of England players.

"We've been speaking about it [the contract extension] for a while and the timing of it will hopefully make sure we can now concentrate on the EUROs and the next EUROs.

"It was a decision that was fairly straightforward and I'm proud of the fact that I'm seen to be doing a good job and hopefully I can continue that.”

Carsley and his players have been together at St. George’s Park this week for a pre-EURO training camp, before he names his final squad on Friday for the trip to Slovakia.

"The preparations have gone well and we've had three good days of training,” he added.

“You always consider the fact that the players might have a lot going on outside the camp, so you want to try and support them with that but also keep them focused and heading towards the goal of being out in Slovakia and hopefully retaining the title.

"We've used this week as a preparation camp to separate between the preparation and the performing and we’ll speak to the players in a couple of days when we meet up to go through our targets and objectives.”

England kick-off their EURO campaign with their first group stage game against Czechia on Thursday 12 June (8pm BST) before they play Slovenia on Sunday 15 June (5pm). Their final group match against Germany is scheduled for Wednesday 18 June (8pm BST) before the tournament heads into the knockout stages.