Teenage midfielder Andre Dozzell is out to finish a memorable season in style, after declaring that his England Under 17s side are targeting victory at the European Under 17 Championships in Azerbaijan.
Dozzell, who burst onto the scene with a debut goal at Sheffield Wednesday aged just 16 in April, is captaining the Young Lions at the tournament with his side losing their group opener to Sweden, before winning their second game against France on Monday.
Dozzell played a part in England’s first goal in the win over the French, as his run into the box saw him tee up Ipswich teammate Ben Morris to convert.
Wayne Rooney is just one of a number of players who made their mark in the under 17s before going on to have full international careers, with current England players Ross Barkley and Jack Butland part of side which won the tournament in 2010, as former Blue Connor Wickham scored the winner in the final against Spain.
Dozzell insisted he and his players are confident they can mount a serious challenge to win the competition, but believes the experience of playing in a major youth competition is just as important as the result.
“It’s a big tournament and we’ve come here to win it, not go home on the plane after the group stage,” Dozzell told thefa.com.
“We knew what we had to do after the game against Sweden and we’ve done it so everyone is happy.
“We just need to take it in to the next game now against Denmark and win that one too.”
“I know England have a good history in this competition as well and we want to continue that,” he explained.
“A couple of years back we actually won it and that was a great experience for those boys.
“But the senior England players have been here at this level before as well.
“People like Wayne Rooney, James Milner and Jack Butland have all taken part in this tournament so the experience here is definitely a valuable one for me and the rest of my team-mates.”
England play their final group game tomorrow against Denmark, with a win enough to take them through to the knockout stages.
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