Young Lion Adam Armstrong has backed his England Under-19 colleagues to repeat their Euro title win of two years ago.
The Newcastle United striker was a key player throughout the season for Aidy Boothroyd’s team, scoring three goals in qualifying as England reached the last eight in Germany.
He was also part of the squad who won the U17 title under John Peacock in 2014, with many of those players now aiming to retain their honour as Europe’s best at U19 level.
UEFA European U19 Championship
The Finals
10-24 July 2016
Germany
Live on Eurosport
But after picking up an injury during the squad’s trip to play Mexico last month, the 19-year-old has been ruled out of the Finals as he remains at St. George’s Park to continue his recovery.
"It's a massive blow. At the start of June, I went away with England and picked up an injury to my thigh," he told NUFC.co.uk.
"I've been in since I got back and I've been working hard, and I'm back soon so that's good news."
The Geordie will be watching on from the north-east though, as England kick-off their group stage with a game against France in Heidenheim next Tuesday.
And he believes they can match the achievement of 2014, as well as secure a place in the U20 World Cup in South Korea next year.
"Because we won it at U17s, I think the aim is to win it at U19s," he added.
"But with me not being there, I think the squad's still strong enough for the lads to go and win it and prepare for the World Cup, which will be next year at U20s.
"So I've got that to look forward to and now it's time for me to work hard at Newcastle and try and get into the gaffer's thoughts and see how training goes."
Boothroyd named his 18-man squad for the competition on Wednesday and the group will head to Germany on Friday.
After Tuesday’s opener with France, the Young Lions will face the Netherlands on Friday 15 July in Ulm and then Croatia in Heidenheim on Monday 18 July before hopefully progressing to the semi-finals.
