England Under-18s prepare for double-header in South Korea

England Under-18s boss Neil Dewsnip and his squad are in South Korea this week, as they end their campaign against the Asian nation.

The Young Lions have remained unbeaten in their four games so far this season, but are expecting a different test on Friday and Sunday when they play their hosts in a double-header.

Dewsnip’s squad arrived in Seoul at the start of the week before heading to Paju and their base for the week at the Korean Football Centre.

It’s the Korean equivalent of England’s St. George’s Park and the group have been afforded a warm welcome there by Kwan Hwang-Bo, the former South Korea international most famous for his stunning goal against Spain at the 1990 World Cup.

And head coach Dewsnip is looking forward to seeing his squad in action against non-European opposition after previously facing Netherlands, Austria and Republic of Ireland this season.

"It’s been a positive season for us," said Dewsnip, who also led many of his squad to the U17 World Cup in Chile earlier in the season.

"It’s very challenging for the players because we have a variety of opposition and the squad has changed slightly from last year to this year and that’s part of player development.

"The majority of the squad are all becoming better together as a unit. This is the problem for us in international football as unlike with the clubs, we’re not together every single day.

"So journeys to different parts of the world are great for them, educating them in a football sense and the more games like this, the tighter they will be."

After experiencing competitive international football for the first time as U17s last season, this age group is an important step before the players move into the U19s and enter another UEFA competition year next term.

England Under-18s head coach Neil Dewsnip with Kwan Hwang-Bo of the Korean FA and a former international

And it’s also a squad which offers opportunities for players to take their first steps on the international ladder should they impress Dewsnip and his staff for their respective club teams.

"The challenges as they get older is to keep playing well for their clubs in order to get selected for England and then to stay in it," he explains.

"What’s really nice is that Keith Downing [U20s head coach] is with me on this trip to assist so he can have a really good look at the players so if they can impress him, it would make sense."

England’s season started with two away games against the Dutch, which resulted in a 0-0 draw and a 2-0 victory last September.

Due to the U17 World Cup, where the Young Lions were ironically held to a 0-0 draw by the Koreans, their next fixtures came in March when they beat Austria by 3-2 in Neustadt before a 4-1 win over the Irish at St. George’s Park.

And Dewsnip says he’s seen progress over the course of the campaign from his group.

"The experience of playing the Dutch is always very difficult as they’re one of the leading nations in the world so to have come out of that having won and drawn was very positive," he said.

"The Austrians are very much an up and coming nation, they’re getting better and better and we’re starting to see that at full international level, so that was a tough challenge.

"They were quite physically dominant against us, so to come through that and out the other side as winners was pleasing.

"What was interesting from our game with Ireland was that they put out pretty much an identical team to who we played a year ago in the Euros.

"I’d be bold enough to say, we looked as though we’d made a lot of progress in the last year and we won the game by playing particularly well.

"So it looks as though the group is developing nicely band heading in the right direction which is a good thing for the future."