Aidy Boothroyd says Gareth Southgate is keen to pick best U21 players for senior team
Wednesday 8 November 2017 15:36, UK
Aidy Boothroyd says England manager Gareth Southgate is keen to pick his best under-21 players to play for the senior team.
The uncapped Tammy Abraham, Joe Gomez and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have already been included in the senior squad for the friendlies against Germany and Brazil.
Boothroyd, the head coach of the under-21 team, told Sky Sports News: "Gareth Southgate is brave enough to pick young players because not every manager is.
"Tammy scoring in the Premier League for Swansea, Joe doing ever so well at Liverpool and Ruben getting a run of games for Crystal Palace - it's only right in our senior manager's opinion they should come through.
"Joe will be like a kid in a sweet shop because he's got what he always wanted, to play for England and get the opportunity to get a senior cap.
"He knows because he's had a bad injury in his career so far, he knows nothing lasts forever and you've got to grab every single moment you can."
Boothroyd added: "They're all walking around with big smiles on their faces like they've got a coat hanger in their mouth.
"We want them smiling, we want them enthused, energetic and we want them playing international football and learning off other fantastic players in the senior team".
Boothroyd watched the under-21 players train at St George's Park on Wednesday before Friday's European Championship qualifier in Ukraine.
Tom Davies and Jack Harrison missed training because of minor injuries but are expected to be fit for the match in Kiev.
England are looking for their fourth consecutive win in qualifying after victories against Andorra, Scotland and Latvia.
