Onwards and upwards
Tuesday, 21 July, 2009
U19s Head Coach Brian Eastick gives his thoughts on Tuesday's draw.
Nicholas Veevers in Donetsk
England U19 Head Coach Brian Eastick has urged his team to put the disappointment of a draw with Switzerland behind them and react in the best way by beating hosts Ukraine on Friday.
The Young Lions looked all set to win their first game in Donetsk after Joe Mattock's first half goal had put them in front, only for a stoppage time goal from the Swiss to level things up.
"Obviously we're disappointed to draw when we were winning with a few minutes to go, when we would expect to see the game out," said Eastick after the game.
"Having said that, I don't think we played particularly well and it's just the fact that it was so late in the game which makes it more disappointing.
"We didn't create enough to get a second goal, which was what we needed. We had one very good chance through Danny Welbeck which nearly went in and we needed that because at 2-0 I think we would've won it.
"I thought over the 90 minutes, you could argue that Switzerland deserved it though. I thought their work ethic was terrific and they kept going.
With Ukraine and Slovenia sharing a 0-0 draw just a few hours later, it means Group A remains tightly poised and that's why Eastick was so keen before the game to emphasise the importance of winning the first match regardless of how well the team performs.
"I think we can take consolation out of a draw though because it would've been a disaster if we'd lost the game," he added.
"These are the sort of games that you want to be looking back on and think that whilst we didn't play particularly well, we scratched out a 1-0 win and moved on.
"Unfortunately we didn't so we just have to dust ourselves down and go again on Friday.
"We'll have a light training session tomorrow for the ones who didn't play and we'll debrief the game and have a look at it.
"Then we'll see who's fit and put a team out to try and make it difficult for Ukraine on Friday.
"What we need to do now is go and beat Ukraine, who I think will be favourites in the group because they're playing at home."