Head Coach acknowledges progress, but wants further development.

England Futsal Head Coach Peter Sturgess believes his side are heading firmly in the right direction after seeing the Three Lions come within seconds of winning The FA Four Nations Tournament in Hereford last weekend.

Following an impressive 5-0 victory against Malta, Sturgess’ team faced Turkey in the Final and after clawing back from two goals behind, managed to take a 3-2 lead into the dying minutes.

Unfortunately, Turkey, who are 25 places above England in the FIFA Futsal rankings, pulled it back and then landed a crushing blow with a winner just three seconds before the game was set for extra-time.

Despite this setback though, Sturgess and his squad could only take encouragement from the occasion and from some of the results and performances of recent months which have also seen England beat African champions Libya.

"There's a real energy, excitement and anticipation in the squad now,” said Sturgess.

"I really do think we're in a different place now to where we were 18 months ago.

"It's a new place for us too, which is bringing us really new challenges, such as dealing with the kind of pressure and intensity that Turkey were able to build.

"We have to be able to deal with that and accept that it's part of the Futsal world that we are now moving into.

"In a way, it's really exciting.”

Squad member Rob Ursell, who scored one of the goals against Turkey himself, added: "A couple of years ago, we wouldn't have got close to being in a game with a team like that.

"So, to lose right at the end, is still progress but also disappointing.

"It's a friendly tournament with preparation for World Cup qualifiers and stuff like that though, so we've just got to take the positives really.”

Watch video highlights from the competition right now, by clicking here.