Head Coach Brian Eastick thought England afforded Germany too much respect on Tuesday.

International U19 Friendly
Wednesday 14 November 2007
Waldstadion Kaiserlinde, Elversberg

England Head Coach Brian Eastick left Germany on Wednesday hoping his players have learnt some valuable lessons from their defeat 24 hours earlier.

The Young Lions were unbeaten this season before travelling to their arch-rivals but slumped to a 1-0 defeat courtesy of Savio Nsereko's 34th minute strike.

England fought hard for an equaliser, without the necessary quality to really test the German defence, although they did go close through Ciaran Clark and Jack Cork, the latter hitting the crossbar after the break.

"The result was disappointing," said Eastick, who had presided over four straight wins this season prior to Germany.

"We played against an efficient German team and 1-0 was probably the right result. Jack Cork hit the woodwork and and Ciaran Clark missed a good chance, but we did not create enough. Those were the only clear cut chances. Some people might say we deserved to get something but it was a fair result."

Eastick was pleased to see an improvement after the interval.

"They were better than us in the first half," he added. "We made far too many unforced errors and never really threatened in the first half. We improved after the break though.

"We showed them too much respect and improved that after half-time. The movement in the centre of the park was better."

There were a number of positives for Eastick and his charges to take away, including the blooding of some new faces to the U19 scene, like Arsenal midfielder Henri Lansbury.

"The trip has been worthwhile," he insisted. "Both the staff and the players have learnt from it. You can always get something from these games.

"We put out a different squad to the one that played in the recent qualifiers, so it gave us the chance to look at some new players. They got the chance to show what they can do."

Eastick will be in Cannes at the end of November to watch the draw for the Elite Round of qualifying for the European Championship.

Once that is made, the Head Coach will turn his attention to a friendly in February which will act as a tune-up for those crucial qualifiers.

"It's coming together," he said. "Germany was a more severe test. I expect to face tough opposition in February - that's more preparation."

England: David Button, Kieran Gibbs, Jack Cork, Ciaran Clark (c), James Tomkins, Sone Aluko, Jamie Chandler, Lee Sawyer, Hal Robson-Kanu, Henri Lansbury, Tope Obadeyi.

Subs: Krystian Pearce, Jason Steele, Ben Mee, Curtis Obeng, Edward Upson, Junior Stanislas.