We can’t fall short again this time
JAMES WARD-PROWSE insists England’s Young Lions will not fail again despite their Euro 2017 hopes hanging in the balance.
Defeat against Slovakia this evening would almost certainly send Aidy Boothroyd’s England Under-21s crashing out of the group stage for the third finals in a row after their goalless opener with Sweden.
But that would be unacceptable to Ward-Prowse, who played in the previous tournament in the Czech Republic as England finished bottom of their group, and he claims they have learned from the experience.
The Southampton midfielder and England U21s skipper said: “It was a massive disappointment for me, that tournament.
“I played a lot of games and I captained a few games leading up to it, so to come off in the first game and not feature at all after that was a big disappointment.
“It was disappointing but we are lucky enough that we get another chance to put things right.
“There’s six or seven of us from the last time so we’ve all got those feelings and that hunger to get things right.
“We want to make sure that we’re not having those same feelings again.”
Ward-Prowse, 22, believes that he is a much better player now than he was at that period, when the then U21s manager Gareth Southgate substituted him against Portugal in a 1-0 opening defeat, and did not use him again.
He said: “Having spoken to Gareth at the time about the reasons why he took me off, it made me realise that I have got some things to work on and change. I went away and in the long run it was a very good thing to happen to me.
“Although I didn’t play in any more of that tournament it was a wake-up call.
“It’s not a nice feeling when you don’t reach the level that you should do, and with the team and the way we were playing two years ago, we should have gone on further.
“But that gives us all an incentive to put things right. A point is a good start for us, we are up and running and looking forward to Slovakia.”
Senior England boss Southgate is currently in Kielce supporting Boothroyd’s boys and has been giving them pointers after they managed just one shot on target against the Swedes.
Ward-Prowse said: “He’s been around and spoken to us individually and seen how we are. He wants to show us support and give us that confidence. It was great to see him here.
“We know we can play better. We know the levels we can reach. That’s why we were disappointed after the game.
“We admit ourselves that we weren’t good enough to win the game but it shows our grit and resilience.” Only the three group winners are guaranteed to progress, with one extra place for the best of the second-placed teams.
That leaves England in desperate need of a win against Slovakia – who lead the group after beating hosts Poland on Friday – before they then face Poland on Thursday. Boothroyd, left, is using Southgate as a sounding board in a bid to get England’s Euro 2017 campaign back on track.
He has been running through tactical and line-up changes with his predecessor in an effort to get more from his shot-shy players.
Southgate, assistant coach Steve Holland and FA technical director Dan Ashworth were all present at training yesterday as they prepare for their make-orbreak Group A clash.
Boothroyd said: “It’s really helpful having them here. It’s great that Gareth, Dan and Steve are here.
“It helps me to have a sounding board. Without a doubt, we’ve got to win, and win the next one as well.
“Gareth’s been very positive. We are very close anyway. It’s great – if I have any questions about players Gareth can be my sounding board because he knows them all so well.”