England U21 head coach Lee Carsley insists his squad are strong enough to cope without injured Jacob Ramsey, as they bid to reach the final of the European Championship for the first time since 2009.
Ramsey has been England’s most influential player on their run to the semi-finals, but the Aston Villa midfielder has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament with an ankle injury.
Carsley will decide between either Arsenal’s Emile Smith Rowe or Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott to replace Ramsey against Israel tonight.
England are yet to concede a goal in the tournament and are being tipped to progress to face either Spain or Ukraine in the final.
Carsley does not see his side as favourites, but is confident they can cope without Ramsey.
“There’s no doubt that Jacob’s a big miss for us,” Carsley said. “But it gives someone else an opportunity and I’m sure that they’ll take it.
“You saw against Germany, when we changed eight players [and won 2-0 in the group stage], that the level of players coming in is almost the same.”
Carsley has explained he has tried to take the pressure off Smith Rowe, who endured a difficult season with Arsenal.
“It’s important that Emile enjoys his football and plays with confidence and a smile on his face,” he said. “I think wearing the No10 at Arsenal is a tough thing, especially with the history that shirt has got.”
England have not reached the final of the European Under-21 Championship for 14 years, when their squad featured James Milner, Joe Hart and Theo Walcott.
“I’ve spoken to the players about how it’s important for them to go out and express themselves,” Carsley said. “They’ve shown a real maturity to the way they’ve approached every game and every challenge.
“As a staff, it was important that we never deviated from the next thing being the most important.
“We spoke about making sure we don’t look forward to the game too much, because I’ve been there before myself as a player where you almost play the game in your mind and when you get to the game, you’re done.”
