Rice says Dutch much like England - they have ‘fantastic’ young talent

De clan Rice can see similarities between England’s burgeoning squad and that of their Nations League Finals opponents, the Netherlands.

England face Ronald Koeman’s side in a semifinal clash in Guimaraes a week on Thursday and the 20-year-old West Ham midfielder is anticipating a thrilling game, with the Dutch expected to feature youngsters such as Matt hijs De Ligt and Fr enkie De Jong alongside the likes of Virgil Van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum.

Having switched allegiance from the Republic of Ireland, Rice made his England debut in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Czech Republic in March before earning his first start against Montenegro three days later.

Asked whether there were similarities between the teams, Rice, pictured, said: “For sure. I think it’s pretty much the same to be honest–a mixture of old heads and some really young players coming through. They are really, really exciting, we’ve seen that with Ajax in the Champions League.

“They’ve got some great players, but, in our squad as well, we’ve got fantastic young players who have performed at such a high standard this season. We know it’s going to be tough, but we’ re confident, for sure.”

Rice played 33 of West Ham’s final 34 games of the season and is happy with his form going into the Nations League finals.

“Consistency is key,” he added. “I’ve kept myself in good shape to play in pretty much every game this season.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have a manager who has put his trust in me, along with my team-mates as well. Being the youngest player in the squad and playing week in, week out, they give me the con fidence to go out there and per format the level I’ ve been performing at.” Rice, who was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award that was won by Raheem Sterling, says his “whirlwind” 2018-19 is the kind of season he has “dreamed of ”.

He said: “I think if I look back to the start of the season, I started at Liverpool [a 4-0 defeat on 12 August], got dragged off at halftime, and then missed out on three or four of the next games and then I came back in for the Everton one [a 3-1 away win on 16 September] and I just kicked on.

“It’s been pretty much a whirlwind season for me. It’s one that I’ve dreamed of, for sure, and one that I never thought would probably happen. But it has and I just have to take it in my stride.”