Carsley and Elliott reflect on 'incredible' winning start

England men’s under-21s head coach Lee Carsley was pleased with his side’s winning start to the U21 UEFA EURO Finals as the Young Lions ran out 3-1 winners over Czechia last night to kick off their campaign.

Carsley’s team put three points on the board in Group D, with Harvey Elliott, Jonathan Rowe and Charlie Cresswell all making the scoresheet.

“Our expectations are always to do well,” said Carsley. "We've always had good games against Czechia, who are a good team with a good coach. We've struggled against them at times in terms of their physicality and organisation. I've got a lot of respect for them.”

And Carsley is hoping his team can progress further and continue to grow into the tournament in Slovakia.

“The realisation is that that's the first time that team's played together,” continued Carsley. “Some of them are in different positions, so our expectation was not to put too much pressure on the players and that, at times, it would look a bit scruffy.

“I definitely expect us to keep improving, the longer we can stay in the tournament. We went a bit longer too quickly but, like I say, it's the first time that team's played together, so they should take a lot of credit – not only the players who started the game, but also those who came on.”

Goalscorer Elliott, who was a part of the team that won the U21 EUROs two years ago, described England’s start as ‘incredible’, highlighting the importance of the opening game.

“I thought the way the boys dug deep and controlled the game towards the end, I think it was an incredible performance and we need to build, recover and go again,” explained Elliott.

The Liverpool forward, who netted five times for the Reds this season, broke the deadlock with 39 minutes on the watch to get the Young Lions up and running before the half time whistle sounded. And England went on to extend their lead in the second period to record a comfortable victory.

“I just needed to be in the right place at the right time, make sure I got a clean strike and hit the target,” recalled Elliott. “With my ability, I'm able to score from those situations and angles. It was a lovely set from James McAtee, who set it up perfectly.

“It's a lovely feeling when the ball hits the net and I felt it controlled the game. We were able to see it through to half-time, regroup and go again for the second half.

“It was an incredible night as well – the fans were really good and created an amazing atmosphere. It was a pleasure to play in front of them, a great game and a great way to start the tournament.”

Carsley’s side go head-to-head with Slovenia on Sunday 15 June (5pm BST kick-off) in their next test of the tournament and the England boss insisted he isn’t underestimating their next opponent.

“The next two days are very important in terms of our recovery and preparation for the Slovenia game," said Carsley. “There's definitely no way we'll be overlooking Slovenia, because we've seen a lot of them and they're a good, well organised team. We look forward to the game.”

“We have another important game coming,” added Elliott. “It's a very quick turnaround with not too much time to think about what's to come. You just need to go into games, hopefully get the job done and worry about things afterwards.”