Shropshire Star

Nathan Redmond and Nathaniel Chalobah racing to be fit for England U21 semi

The pair came off during the 3-0 win over Poland and are in danger of missing the Germany match

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Nathan Redmond and Nathaniel Chalobah will have late fitness tests as they battle to be ready for England Under-21s’ Euro 2017 semi-final with Germany.

The pair trained on Monday, although some of it was away from the group, and the Young Lions are hopeful they will be fit.

They came off in Thursday’s 3-0 win over Poland, which clinched top spot in Group A, with Chelsea’s Chalobah nursing a groin problem and Southampton’s Redmond suffering a hamstring scare.

He said: “Both players will have fitness tests and they have improved significantly since we took the precaution of bringing them off and Nathaniel played a part in the session towards the end.

“They will both be assessed tomorrow morning for the game.”

England have been practising penalties but the Germans have not ahead of their last four showdown, a repeat of the 2009 final which the Young Lions lost 4-0.

It is the first time England have qualified from the group stages since that tournament in Sweden but Boothroyd knows they still need to improve.

He said: “We want to make sure that we aren’t a team that are good at qualifying and getting out of groups. We want to be known as teams that win tournaments.

“The under-20s have done that and the under-17s came really close and that’s what we want to do.

“But we know we’ve got a very tough opponent and we have a great deal of respect for the German team and it will be a very difficult game for us as well.

“But I hope that we can execute the game plan. If we can we will have a good chance.”

Germany Under-21 boss Stefan Kuntz scored in normal time and also netted a penalty in his country’s semi-final shoot-out win over England at Euro 96.

Boothroyd believes that game at Wembley 21 years ago was a big moment in the rivalry but admitted he was in less glamorous surroundings than Kuntz during the semi-final.

“It wasn’t the ending we wanted but a lot of people of that generation have a real affinity with England v Germany games,” he said.

“Back then I wasn’t taking a penalty on the pitch. I was in Baildon Social Club somewhere in Yorkshire watching it. (We had) slightly different career paths.”

Defender Alfie Mawson is prepared to take a penalty should he need to but believes the Young Lions can win in 90 minutes.

The Swansea man said: “I’m confident enough to step up and take one. Hopefully it doesn’t get to that and we finish the game in normal time. If we did come to that we feel we have enough character to go through.

“We’ve got to go out there with the confidence we came to this competition with.”

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