Peacock left to ponder

England Under-17 Head Coach John Peacock has plenty to ponder after his young Lions lost 3-1 to Germany in their last game of the Algarve Tournament.

After taking the lead through Middlesbrough's Jonathan Franks, England conceded three goals in the second half as the Germans hit top gear.

The defeat completed a mixed bag of results - England beat Portugal but drew with France earlier in the tournament - and Peacock knows improvements need to be made if his side are to win their Elite Qualifying Round in Bosnia next month and book their place at the European Championships.

"What we must do is defend better as a team and as a unit," said Peacock. "Individual mistakes will happen at any level, I'm not blaming the back four. But we must do better with things like set-pieces and tracking runners."

Level on points before kick-off, England would win the Algarve Tournament if they could overcome the might of Germany.

Dreams of glory looked a real possibility when England took the lead in the 12th minute. Crystal Palace midfielder Victor Moses, scorer of the only goal against Portugal last Saturday, played in Franks who smashed home from eight yards.

The goal was no more than the young Lions deserved and they continued to dominate until the end of the half, albeit without adding to their earlier goal.

"The first half was good - we played really well," said Peacock. "It was the best we have played since being over here. Both teams were playing good football - we said at half-time we would have to continue in the same vein."

Unfortunately for Peacock's troops, the Germans upped the ante after the break, scoring three times to win both the game and the tournament.

Hertha Berlin's Marvin Knoll set the ball rolling in the 51st minute, a lead that was doubled five minutes later when Henning Sauerbier, of Bayer Leverkusen, headed in.

The win was complete in the 72nd minute courtesy of Sascha Bigalke, the highly regarded Hertha Berlin starlet, who scored from the spot.

"They had a couple of tricky players who began to have more of an influence in the game," said Peacock. "We did not defend well, but I have no complaints with the result. Over the 80 minutes they were better than us and deserved to win the tournament. They were the best team we have played and have set the benchmark."

With the qualifiers in mind, where England will play Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Azerbaijan in less than a week, Peacock thought the trip was ideal preparation.

"The players have given me something to think about," he said. "They have also played three games in four days, that is excellent experience for us all."

England did manage to pick up the Fair Play award for their good conduct on the field.

England: Steele, Darville (Twumasi 61), Mattock, Spence, Smith (Barnett 73), Franks, Rose (Reid 73), Murphy (Elliott 43), Moses, Medyelito (Plummer 61), Harvey (Taiwo 61).

England Goals: Franks 12

Germany Goals: Knoll 51, Sauerbier 56, Bigalke 72 (pen)