England Under-21s

Aidy Boothroyd: 'England Under-21s have learned from Euro 2015 failure'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 13 November 2016

England Under-21s caretaker manager Aidy Boothroyd believes that the team's group-stage exit at Euro 2015 has helped to mature the players.

England Under-21s manager Aidy Boothroyd has insisted that the team have learned from their early exit at Euro 2015.

Boothroyd, who is in temporary charge of the team while Gareth Southgate takes over duties for the senior side, extended England's unbeaten streak to 15 games courtesy of a late 3-2 victory over Italy on Thursday night.

The result continued England's resurgence since their group-stage exit at Euro 2015, with victory in the Toulon tournament also coming during their unbeaten run.

"They're certainly more mature. They're better individuals for the experiences they've had, and they're a better team for the experiences they've had," Boothroyd told reporters.

"Like I said, the fact that you can recover, go again, and then win a tournament, says a lot about the group of players, and also the coach as well, Gareth and Steve [Holland]. It says an awful lot about them to pick them up and get them going again, create a team spirit, learn from adversity and go and win."

England's last defeat came against Italy at Euro 2015.