England Under-21s Fitness Coach explains to FATV benefits of early travel east.

England Under-21s made the long trip east to Azerbaijan on Monday in order to ensure they are well-acclimatised in their new surroundings by the time their match in Baku comes around on Thursday afternoon.

With the time difference in Azerbaijan fours hours ahead of England's BST, Fitness Coach Craig Boyd spoke to FATV from Baku about the reasons for the squad making the journey there more than three days in advance of the fixture and how he plans to help the players get into their usual routine ahead of the game.

That started with a later-than-usual training session on Tuesday afternoon after allowing the squad some extra sleep in the morning following their arrival in Azerbaijan late on Monday night.

"It's important because of the time difference," said Boyd. "There is an element of jet-lag, especially when you travel eastwards as we've done.

"It normally takes a day per hour to get yourself balanced with the new time zone you're in and it's essentially the exposure to daylight that will help them get used to the new time zone."

Watch the full interview with Boyd on FATV below:


Tickets for next Monday's game with Norway at Chesterfield's Proact Stadium are still on sale, so make sure you're there to see the final Group qualifier. Click here for more details.