MODEL ENGLAND v CZECH REPUBLIC I NEED TO START THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX LIKE HARRY SAYS RISING STAR TAMMY

England U21 Poland U21

TAMMY ABRAHAM is using England captain Harry Kane as his inspiration in a bid to get thinking and scoring outside the box.

The Three Lions’ Under-21 frontman has proved to be a penalty-box poacher supreme with all 49 of his club league goals for Bristol City, Swansea and Aston Villa coming from inside the area.

It is an impressive tally to have reached by the age of 21, but future Chelsea and England hopeful Abraham, who has two full caps, said: “I’m a person who looks at myself and after every game I like to reflect on my performance, not just the team.

“You look at the Harry Kanes, although he’s absolutely ruthless inside the box, he also scores goals outside the box.

“Chances to win games won’t always come in the box, so that’s one thing I’ve got to work on, positioning myself outside the box and obviously taking shots.

“Top strikers like Kane, I’ve watched how he uses his body, positions himself, gets into the area. I’ve heard so many stories of players who have trained with Kane. The best players, they’re always the last ones off the pitch, always working on this, working on that, and they put that into games.

“It’s about following those footsteps and

doing the same thing.” Abraham makes a “heartwarming” return to

Ashton Gate tomorrow when Aidy Boothroyd’s Young Lions host

Poland in a friendly.

The occasion brings back memories of his first loan spell away from Chelsea that kickstarted his journey from boy to a man.

The towering striker smiled: “I remember my first feeling going into it. I was scared. I’m going up against men!

“So many times my mum was crying for me. There was one against Cardiff, it was Sol Bamba. I just touched the ball and he came straight through me. I said ‘whoa!’, I was not used to those kinds of tackles.

“I was trying to pin him and all sorts, but he was so strong. I just remember saying, ‘Listen, I’m going to have to go to the gym or something, I can’t hold him off’.”

This summer’s Under-21 Euros will be another step-up and chance to impress for the forward with the long-term goal of making it at Chelsea and one day joining Kane in the senior set-up.

Abraham added: “I’ve still got unfinished business, getting knocked out in the semis two years ago – this time we can bring the trophy home.”