Southgate joins U21s before his Russia mission

GARETH Southgate will be in the stands here when England’s Under 21s begin their Euro 2017 campaign tomorrow, before heading across the border to Russia on a World Cup scouting mission.

The senior head coach, who was the architect of the Under 21s’ qualifying campaign before stepping up to replace Sam Allardyce, will link up with England’s party in Kielce for the opening match against holders Sweden.

He will spend the weekend in Poland and watch Monday’s second Group A fixture against Slovakia before travelling to Russia to take in some games at the Confederations Cup and look at potential venues.

England are top of Group F and remain firmly on course to qualify for the 2018 World Cup and the Confederations Cup provides Southgate with an opportunity to see stadiums and facilities in cities such as Moscow and Kazan.

First, though, Southgate will head a strong FA delegation in the stands in Kielce. Technical director Dan Ashworth joined the squad on Tuesday, and chief executive Martin Glenn is also expected to arrive for either the Sweden or Slovakia game.

This tournament has been reformatted since the renewal in the Czech Republic two years ago, with the number of teams increased to 12 from eight, comprising three groups of four. Each group winner goes through to the semi-finals, along with the best runner-up.

It means there is a huge amount riding on the opening game against Sweden. England have paid the price in the last three championships for failing to win their opening fixtures against Spain (2011), Italy (2013) and Portugal ( 2015), exiting each tournament at the group stage.

Nathan Redmond, the Southampton winger, made his Under 21 debut against the Italians four years ago, a game which England lost 1-0, and was a mainstay of Southgate’s team in 2015. He is now the vicecaptain and knows how little margin they have for error.

‘We’ve got to get out of the group stage,’ said Redmond, the third most capped Under 21 player in England’s history with 32 matches.

‘In my experience you need to win or get a result in the first game. Then momentum can start to kick in.

‘We prepared well and won all our games in qualifying two years ago. We weren’t going into the tournament scared or anything.

‘But we came up short. I’ve been in this situation before but I don’t really want to flood the rest of the lads’ heads too much because some players want to play free and there is pressure playing in the Under 21s. We are relaxed at the minute and we want it to stay that way.’