Michael Keane hoping a previous meeting with Serbia can help England to victory.

By Nicholas Veevers in Tallinn

England defender Michael Keane has revealed that he is willing to feed in some of his own knowledge on Serbia to his team-mates, as the Young Lions prepare to face them in their second group game of the European Championships on Friday.

The Manchester United man is in the unique position of having already come face-to-face with the Serbians this season, whilst representing the Republic Of Ireland in a friendly game last year.

After Serbia's 3-0 defeat against France in their opening match here on Tuesday, they really need three points from their clash with England now so that could lead to a more adventurous gameplan from a nation who traditionally like to sit back, soak up pressure and play on the break.

"It can maybe help us if they need to win, as it might stop them from being defensive and create some gaps for us to exploit," explained Keane, from England's Tallinn base.

"We know it will be a tough game, we will have to concentrate and hopefully we can get the right result.

"I've already played against Serbia earlier this season whilst I was with Republic Of Ireland, so I know what they're all about and what to expect."

England opened up their Euro campaign on Tuesday with a 1-1 draw against Croatia and whilst Keane feels they need to improve in their next two games, he also believes that those first match cobwebs have been blown away.

"Most of the lads have had three weeks off over the summer so it was a bit like a first pre-season game for us," he said. "You can't replicate a match situation in training and we're still getting our sharpness back so I'm sure we'll get there with more games as the competition goes on.

"It was a tough game though and we didn't start off as well as we'd planned to, but we grew into it as the game went on.

"They had the better of the first half but we were better in the second half and could've won it in the end. It's a draw and we're still in the competition, so we accept that and move on to the next game now."

Keane is still a relative newcomer to the squad, having only made his debut for England in the Elite Qualifying Round games in May, when he played a key role in all three matches to help the Lions reach the Finals here in Estonia.

Prior to that, Stockport-born Keane had represented Ireland at both U17 and U19 level, so international football wasn't completely new to him and coming from a club such as Manchester United has also helped him settle into Noel Blake's side.

"It's been really easy to settle in and the lads have all welcomed me since I first joined up," he added.

"And we play the way I like to, out from the back, so it's not been too different to what I'm used to at club level which has definitely helped me."

Of course, the England squad are unfortunately missing Michael's twin brother Will, who sustained a cruciate knee injury in the final qualifying match with Switzerland in Preston in May.

Whilst Will continues to recover back in Manchester, he is in constant touch with his sibling and continues to cheer on his team-mates from home.

"He's obviously in contact and has been asking about how everyone is doing and playing," revealed Michael. "He wishes he could be here with us, so that's unfortunate but I'm sure he'll be back.

"His operation went as well as it could have gone and he's on the long road to recovery now. It will be six to nine months, but they're not going to rush it.

"He's getting better day-by-day so he just needs to stay patient and I'm sure he'll be back stronger than he was."