Paul Simpson says his Young Lions have been inspired by the senior team’s success at the World Cup.
The U19s squad are in Finland for the European Championship Finals, where they kicked-off with a 3-2 victory over Turkey on Tuesday.
And with last season’s U19s group winning this title in Georgia last July in what was a successful year across the development teams, the head coach says there’s no shortage of inspiration.
“We don’t feel pressure [to retain U19 title], we feel inspired by it,” said Simpson, whose team face Ukraine in their second group game on Friday.
“What’s gone on in 2017 with our development teams and then what the senior team went on to do in Russia, I think these lads are all inspired by it.
“They’ve showed in the first game that they’ve got huge pride in pulling on the England shirt.”
There are three players in Simpson’s squad for the Finals who experienced last year’s title win and were still young enough to turn out again for this campaign with the U19s.
Nottingham Forest striker Ben Brereton, who scored in the win over Turkey, and Chelsea pair Dujon Sterling and Trevoh Chalobah were all in Keith Downing’s squad last summer before helping Simpson’s class of 2017-18 through the two qualifying rounds and into the Finals.
And Brereton echoed Simpson’s sentiments as the Young Lions target another title and qualification for next year’s FIFA U20 World Cup.
“We don’t feel any pressure, we just want to come out here and do what we enjoy and try to win the Euros again,” said Brereton.
“Last season was good, but we need to forget about that now and focus on this one.
“The first game is always the hardest, so we’re glad we got the win on Tuesday.
“I enjoyed it, I’m glad I got a goal and I thought the team was quality and we dug deep in the second half.”
You can watch Friday’s game with Ukraine live on Sky Sports.
