Thunder some say cannot strike twice in the same place. Though debatable can England Under 21s replicate what has been done by their elder brothers as they take on Andora U21s in the European U21 Championship later tonight? The Senior Lions took Andora to the cleaners in the World cup qualifiers on Saturday running away with emphatic 5-0 victory, and less than 48 hours later the junior lions are faced with Andora juniors hurdle.
England U21 head coach Lee Carsley admits he can’t expect perfection from his players at such a young age
The Young Lions face Andorra on Monday having blown a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 in Slovenia on Thursday.
They sit third in Group G, five points behind leaders the Czech Republic having played a game less, in the race to reach Euro 2023.
England were held to a surprise 3-3 draw in Andorra a year ago and Carsley knows his young squad are not the finishing article
He said: “I’m often guilty of this, my expectation of this squad is I want them to be perfect every game. With the age of the players and at this point in their careers it’s not possible.
“I’m very wary my expectation levels are so high so I want to make sure we can fulfil the potential.
“Our application and attitude has to be right – and it has been for the two games. If we can match them physically and stand up in moments which will be tough we’ll be OK.”
On Thursday, Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer gave the Young Lions a 2-0 lead after just 15 minutes in Slovenia but Mark Spanring and Dusan Stojinovic levelled as the hosts hit back in the second half.
Carlsey, though, believes the draw will help his squad in the long-term.
READ ALSOJUST-IN: England thrash Andorra in World Cup qualifier
He said: “I had real mixed emotions after the game. It was such a positive, exciting, first half in terms of the way we played, the amount of chances we created, the variation in which we played in.
“We started the second half a bit slowly, not recognising we potentially had to ride out a rough patch, conceded a goal quite early and then conceded another set play.
Andorra boss Eloy Casals could keep changes down to a minimum but Alex Rente may be provided with an opportunity in the final third after the 17-year-old made his debut as a substitute against Albania.
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