Jun 22, 2017 at 7.45pm UK
England U21sEngland Under-21s
3-0
Poland U21sPoland Under-21s
Gray (6'), Murphy (69'), Baker (82' pen.)
Mawson (65')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Bednarek (79')
Bednarek (82')
Football

Aidy Boothroyd: 'England Under-21s must go for top spot'

Aidy Boothroyd admits that he is pleased to see England Under-21s' fate remain in their own hands heading into the match against Poland, with top spot the only target.
By , Football League Correspondent
Filed:
Updated: Friday, June 23, 2017 at 17:25 UK

England Under-21s boss Aidy Boothroyd has targeted another victory when his side take on Poland Under-21s on Thursday evening, claiming that finishing top of Group A is the only target.

The Young Lions kept alive their hopes of progressing last time out with a 2-1 comeback win over their Slovakia counterparts, lifting them top of the standings after the second round of fixtures.

England will make certain of progression should they overcome tournament hosts Poland in Kielce tomorrow night, while anything less and they will be relying on other results, with only one second-placed team from the three groups assured of a place in the semi-finals.

Boothroyd is glad that his side's fate remains in their own hands, as they look to make it through to the last four of the competition for the first time since 2009.

"The way the tournament is set up with the winners of the group and the best runners-up going through, when you've got the teams that are in the other groups like Portugal, Germany and Italy, you know you have to win your group," he told reporters.

"We were quite pleased with a point from our first game but it's taken a bit of waking up to realise that we had to win that game and we have to win this one too. We don't want to put our future in anyone else's hands.

"We're here to go as far as we can and if we keep improving then why can't we reach the semis and go beyond that? But first things first, what we definitely won't do is get carried away and complacent. We've got a job to do against a really good team with 15,000 people behind them and against us."

Bottom side Poland can also still make it through, sitting three points adrift of leaders England heading into tomorrow's match.

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