Fast, Attacking Football And Qualification

Head coach Lee Carsley has refused to relax this week despite his England Under-21s sitting six points clear of the only side who can catch them.

The one-time England manager - who has also dominated European competition with the Young Lions for the last four years - will face Slovakia this evening with only a point needed to top the group.

“I’m the ultimate pessimist”, he said. “Until it’s mathematically impossible to not qualify then I can’t relax. For some reason I’ve not relaxed at all this week, in terms of the intensity I’ve worked at, the preparation or the drive and demand on the staff because it (the ethos) comes from us. We set the tempo!”

The mild-mannered Carsley has an intensity matched by few mangers when addressing the responsibility of guiding his young charges (the third generation in his care) through qualification. “It’s different for the Under-21s because they are constantly being judged. There are no friendlies, so they can’t afford to have a night off. At the minute, in terms of where the draw is and what the plans are, I’ve not looked beyond Slovakia.”

England’s Under-21s beat tonight’s opponents last November with Nwaneri, King and Mubama finding the net and Carsley is hoping for more of the same. “I think it's a really good chance to see the next up-and-coming players. And I think we've got some really exciting players. We try to attack as much as we can, so hopefully they're going to see goals and you’re going to see fast attacking football. That’s what we want.”

England vs Slovakia kicks off at 7.45pm BST.