Daily Star

YOUNG GUNS GOING GREAT

ASH FULL OF BELIEF

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ASHLEY YOUNG believes England’s recordbrea­kers could be on the verge of greatness after hitting Panama for six.

Yesterday’s 6-1 win was England’s biggest in tournament history.

And ahead of Thursday’s final group game with Belgium, there’s a growing confidence in the dressing room after the Three Lions’ best World Cup display in years.

Gareth Southgate’s side are now up there with hosts Russia and Belgium as the tournament’s top scorers.

And Young feels it could be a big few weeks for England.

“This could be the start of something good,” he said.

“The togetherne­ss I’ve seen is incredible and everyone wants the ball.

“We’ve got to keep on doing that

from IAN MURTAGH

and keep playing the way we have.”

Jesse Lingard, who scored an outstandin­g goal to make it 3-0 in the first half, echoed captain Harry Kane’s claim that England can emulate the Boys of ‘66.

“With the squad we’ve got and the confidence flowing I don’t see why not,” he said.

“We’re still learning and we’ll take it game by game but there’s a lot of positivity, so we’ll take it into the Belgium game.”

On his stunning goal, he added: “It’s an amazing feeling. Even better that we won and are top of the table.” John Stones was also thrilled to open his England scoring account – and then double it by half-time.

But such are the standards set by the players, he claimed Panama’s late consolatio­n – scored when they were trailing by six goals, took some of the gloss off England’s win.

“It’s not something I thought I’d do at the start of the day,” said Stones of his two first-half goals.

“To score my first England goals at a World Cup feels very special.

“We’re just disappoint­ed not to keep a clean sheet.

“But we wanted to do the country proud and get through to the next step and now we’ll see where we can go.”

 ??  ?? LIONHEARTS: Ashley Young joins in the celebratio­ns after England’s fourth goal PLEDGE: Courtois
LIONHEARTS: Ashley Young joins in the celebratio­ns after England’s fourth goal PLEDGE: Courtois
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