England 2-1 Greece

A vital victory for England's Under 21s at Ewood Park saw them win their group and earn an all-important place in next month's European Championship play-offs and they can take great credit from beating what was an impressively strong and committed side from Greece.

An early goal from Jermain Defoe - a deft flicked header from Jonathan Greening's inch-perfect cross - gave England the initiative and the first half was principally theirs.

Carrick and Dunn clearly relished playing alongside each other in the centre of the field, while Greening and Pennant constantly looked to feed the sprightly front pairing of Defoe (pictured) and Vassell who instinctively struck up an excellent understanding on the first occasion that they played together.

England looked the sharper side and coach David Platt admitted after the game that he felt his side should have been more than one up at the break.

It was a far tighter contest in the second half as the visitors forced their way back into the game, besieging the England goal for the first twenty minutes of the second period.

The Greek number nine, Papadopoulis, was a constant thorn in the side of the English rearguard with his pace and, at times, it was only the excellence of Ledley King and the athleticism of Chris Kirkland which kept England's lead intact.

Coach David Platt demonstrated his tactical expertise and his international experience by making intelligent changes at the right time, introducing Prutton to add stability to the midfield and Christie to offer a different kind of outlet up front on 73 minutes.

After the game the former England captain explained that ideally he would have liked to get "an old head" on the pitch to settle things down, but playing Under-21 football made this somewhat difficult.

However, the duo that Platt did introduce rewarded their coach by combining expertly on 87 minutes for England's killer second.

Christie broke the offside trap and was found expertly by Prutton's perceptive through-ball. The Derby man took a touch to steady himself before swiftly curling the ball past Kotsolis from the edge of the area.

Papadopoulis' 90th minute penalty, awarded after the otherwise immaculate King had been adjudged to have fouled the Greek centre forward, ensured that England were made to endure an uncomfortable last few minutes.

However, England were in no mood to relinquish a victory that they had fought so bhard to achieve and the full house at Blackburn were sent into raptures when the faultless Spanish referee Gonzalez blew his full-time whistle.

"We never expected an easy game," said Platt after watching his side win their fourth game in succession

"We had great respect for Greece - they were top of the group coming into this game and, at this level, they are a very good side.

"But I thought we were the better team in the first half and could have gone in more than the one goal in front."

The England coach also felt that his squad's strength in depth was ultimately the key to their success. Even without Jeffers, Davis, Parker, and Terry, Platt could still afford to leave talents such Chadwick, Christie and Prutton on the bench.

"The good thing for me as a coach was that I was able to watch the game with the knowledge that, if the need arose, I had players sitting on the bench that could change the game.

"I said to the players before this match that our goal has got to be the European Championships. At that stage we had two obstacles in our way: Greece and then the play-offs.

"We have overcome the first obstacle, now we need to overcome the second."

England: Kirkland, Young, Bridge, Carrick, King, Barry, Pennant, Dunn (Captain), Vassell, Defoe (Christie), Greening (Prutton)

Greece: Kotsolis, Nastos, Loumpoutis, Kyriazis, Tavlariois, Kyrgiakos, Katsouranis, Petrou, Papadopoulos, Vakouftsis, Theodoridis.

Referee: E Gonzalez

Attendance: 29,194

From Daniel Freedman at Ewood Park