Hope Powell’s number two was in charge of the 18-player squad which drew two and lost two of the four games they played at the eight-nation event in Iceland.

Speaking to TheFA.com at the conclusion of the tournament, Hills said: "It was a great experience for the girls and they’ll really benefit from it.

"We were in a strong group but gave a good account of ourselves and we would have won at least one of the matches if we’d taken our chances."

England took the lead in their opening match against Iceland, Birmingham City’s Vicky Gallagher netting midway through the first half.

But the host nation equalised just before the break and the final score of 1-1 was a fair reflection on an even contest.

Conceding an early goal against Sweden in their second match proved costly as England went down 1-0 against a team they should have beaten.

In what was their best performance of the tournament, England had most of the possession but failed to take any of the goal opportunities they created.

A second half comeback in their final group game was not enough to prevent a 3-2 defeat by Denmark, who had led 3-0 at the interval.

Playing against a heavy wind in the opening half made life difficult for England, but it was lapses of concentration at vital times that proved the most telling factor.

A much improved second half display led to goals by Everton colleagues Kelly McDougall and Lindsay Johnson, but England could not force an equaliser.

After that sterling fight back, however, England then produced their weakest performance of the tournament in their play-off match against Norway.

The game ended goalless before Norway won 4-3 on penalties, though England might have won in normal time despite being below par and down to 10 players.

Ironically after losing Birmingham’s Laura Bassett, sent off after collecting two yellow cards, they were the better side.

But a great chance went begging in the dying seconds and, after the final whistle, another installment of England penalty shoot-out agony followed.

So Hills and his squad packed their bags to return home without a win to their name, but the Assistant National Coach was far from downhearted.

He said: "We were the most inexperienced team at Under-21 level that took part in the tournament, but we acquitted ourselves well.

"There were a lot of complimentary comments made about our team and the girls are really looking forward to our next game, against Sweden in October.

"We’ve wanted an Under-21 squad for quite a while now and it’s going to give a real boost to the England women’s set-up.

"What’s tended to happen in the past is that only the most outstanding players have made the leap from Under-19 international football into the senior squad.

"We’ve lost a lot of players who’ve not made that leap because they’ve felt they didn’t have a realistic chance of making the senior team.

"But it’s much less of a step up from Under-21 level, which gives youngsters that much longer to develop as international footballers.

"This may have been our first outing as an Under-21 team, but the signs are already there that players who might have missed the net will make senior internationals."

Sweden, who England meet on 02 October, reached the final of the tournament but were beaten 3-0 by the USA.