Boothroyd boys are ‘devastated’ by draw

FOR the second game in a row, Aidy Boothroyd walked into a devastated England dressing room — but this time he couldn’t understand why.

Boothroyd knew he would be greeted by despair after the Under 21s lost to Germany on penalties at Euro 2017. But he was taken aback to be met by silence after the opening match of the Euro 2019 qualification campaign in Holland.

Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin — scorer of the winner in the Under 20 World Cup final — marked his Under 21 debut with a thumping finish in the 20th minute.

But Holland responded 12 minutes later with a looping header from Bart Ramselaar.

Only a superb goal-line clearance from Everton’s Jonjoe Kenny stopped Holland inflicting England’s first defeat in a qualification game since November 2011 but Boothroyd’s side deserved to open Group 4 with a point and he was quick to say so.

‘The lads were all devastated which is ridiculous, isn’t it?’ said Boothroyd, whose side face Latvia at Bournemouth on Tuesday. ‘ But they are world champions and they just expect to win every time. I wanted to win but I think this is a solid point.

‘Holland upped their game against us but it’s a good start to the campaign against one of the better teams in the group. We’re a new team and I am happy to take a point.’