Aidy Boothroyd reserved special praise for stopper Jordan Pickford following the Young Lions’ slender defeat to Germany on Friday evening.
Nadiem Amiri’s strike from the edge of the box, which wrong-footed Sunderland goalkeeper Pickford, proved to be the game’s only goal as Germany sealed victory in Wiesbaden.
England weren’t without their chances, though, Alfie Mawson with the best of them but his tame effort was easily saved before Nathaniel Chalobah sliced an acrobatic volley.
Pickford produced an assured performance between the posts for the Young Lions, saving well on multiple occasions to keep the deficit at one.
And speaking post-match, England under-21s boss Boothrody praised the Washington-born stopper for his efforts in goal ahead of this summer’s European Under-21 Championship.
“Jordan is a terrific player and we’ve know that for a long time,” he told BT Sport.
“He has been in the system a long time.
“He has managed to win himself an opportunity at his club, he has become the No.1 and he has done really, really well for us.
“Germany are a good side and they have paid us a compliment and changed their system which threw us a little bit,” he continued.
“We had a few problems dealing with it but I think towards the end of the first half and the second half when we changed tactically we gave them more problems than they gave us.
“From our point of view we have learned a lot of really good lessons.”
