Aidy Boothroyd praises Young Lions squad after progress to semi-finals
Thursday 22 June 2017 23:02, UK
Aidy Boothroyd was full of praise for his England side after they beat Poland 3-0 in their final group game to progress to the semi-finals of the European Under-21 Championship.
Goals from Demarai Gray, Jacob Murphy and a Lewis Baker penalty were enough for the Young Lions to see off the hosts of the competition and guarantee top spot in Group A.
"It's a great moment," Boothroyd told Sky Sports. "After the first game ended in a draw, people may have looked at it with doom and gloom, but thankfully with our group of players and staff we managed to get the two wins we needed to win the group.
"We carried out the game plan to the tee. We scored an early goal which I think helped us and we knew the Polish were going to come flying out which they did, but I thought we played really well to get the clean sheet."
Boothroyd also reserved special praise for Leicester winger Gray, who had to make do with a place on the bench for first two games, but started on Thursday night and scored one and created another.
"I thought he (Gray) was terrific, his response to coming off the bench was expected but he worked his socks off," said Boothroyd. "He needed a bit of encouragement towards the end so he didn't run out of gas but overall it was a great performance from Demarai.
"It's a squad game. One of the hardest things is keeping the lads focused and motivated, but Will Hughes came on and did a great job, as did Jacob Murphy so I'm really pleased with how it is all shaping up. We're really excited and looking forward to the semis now.
"Getting out of the group is easier to say than it is to do. We were in the best 12 teams in Europe, now we have managed to get into the best four. But we will be trying to get into the best two and then become the best one. We have to give credit to our opponents, they have been difficult to play against, all three."
