Ashley Young says he rates England's chances of winning Euro 2012 'very highly' and is feeling confident ahead of Monday's opener.
Midfielder hoping Three Lions can make winning start
England midfielder Ashley Young says he rates his side's chances of winning Euro 2012 'very highly' and is feeling confident ahead of Monday's opener against France.
Roy Hodgson has begun his reign as England manager with 1-0 friendly victories against Norway and Belgium, with the Manchester United man scoring the winner against the former.
The Three Lions get their Euro campaign under way against Les Bleus on Monday and, despite injury troubles that have rocked Hodgson's squad in the build-up, 26-year-old Young has faith in their ability to go all the way in Poland and Ukraine.
Chances
Asked how he rated England's chances at a press conference on Saturday, the midfielder replied: "Very highly. We don't come into a competition not thinking we can win the competition. Every player in this squad is full of confidence.
"It's going to be a tough game on Monday and the two after that. But if we apply ourselves in the way that we have done in the last two games and the way we qualified out of the group, I'm sure we'll do very well."
Young feels the organisation brought to the squad by Hodgson and shown in their warm-up games could give them the edge against France.
He added: "If you look at the two games we've had under him (Hodgson), the organisation has been different to previous games and I think it's helped.
"The two 1-0 wins were good wins, especially the way we kept our shape and managed to get ourselves forward and get the goals.
"I think it's going to be important to do that on Monday."
Hodgson has lost several key players to injury ahead of the tournament, with Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry and Gary Cahill all ruled out.
Young revealed James Milner and Martin Kelly missed training on Saturday due to blisters and a migraine respectively, but expects everyone to be present and correct for Monday's opener.
He added: "Millys got blisters and Martin Kelly had a bit of a migraine last night. They were the only two that didn't take part but everybody is fully fit for Monday and looking forward to the game."
Racism
Young says he was "disappointed" by an incident on Wednesday which saw several Holland players subjected to racist abuse during a training session and hopes UEFA will handle the situation and any others that might arise.
"Of course it's disappointing but it's down to UEFA to deal with and hopefully it doesn't happen again," he said.
"Obviously as a player you don't want to put up with things like that. I'm sure they will deal with it in the right way."
