England Under-18s boss Neil Dewsnip excited by fixtures

Sunday 04 Sep 2016
England Under-18s head coach Neil Dewsnip
Neil Dewsnip is aiming for his England Under-18s side to make it two wins from two this week when they play Israel on Monday evening.

The Young Lions head to Morecambe for the closing game of the mini-tournament in the north-west, following on from their victory over Italy in Fleetwood last Thursday.

Dewsnip’s side will be crowned as winners of the competition if they win or draw, following Italy's 4-1 victory over Israel when they met at Stockport County on Saturday.

England v Israel

U18 International Match
7pm, Monday 5 September 2016
Globe Arena, Morecambe FC
Tickets: £3 adults & £2 concessions

And the head coach is looking forward to the game, having never previously faced the Israelis in his time as a national boss.

"In my time with The FA and the England teams so far, Israel is a nation I haven’t come across yet so I’m looking forward to seeing their style and philosophy and pitching ours against theirs," he revealed.

"What I do know, from our research on them, is that they’re quite competitive. 

"They lost very narrowly against Spain in their U17 Euro Qualifiers last season and of course, Spain went on to beat ourselves to reach the Final. 

"We’re making sure that every game in all of our age groups is incredibly important and competitive, so we want to perform and ideally win both games this week. 

"Even though there are no Euro Finals, or a World Cup for the U18s group, there is no such thing as a non-competitive year or non-competitive game."

It promises to be a busy and exciting season for the U18s, with Dewsnip having lined-up an eye-catching programme of fixtures for his side.

England Under-18s line-up to face Italy in Fleetwood

England Under-18s line-up to face Italy in Fleetwood

After this week’s games on the Lancashire coast, the squad will go on to face opposition from around the world this term with the players getting the opportunity to perform in different countries and continents as part of their international development.

"We’ve got a really strong and exciting programme with the U18s this season," added Dewsnip.

"We have a trip to Sweden in October and another mini-tournament in November against Poland and France. 

"Next year, we go to Qatar which is also an early look towards the 2022 World Cup and then the final fixtures, which I’m really excited about, will be Argentina away. 

"So we’re excited about the whole programme this season and hopefully the players will be too and it will add value to their pathway on and up into the England senior team."

The game with Israel at the Globe Arena kicks-off at 7pm, tickets cost just £3 for adults and £2 for concessions and are available on the night.

By Nicholas Veevers Content Manager - FA Owned Channels