England U21

To further prepare for the UEFA EURO U21 tournament, the England U21 team will participate in a friendly match against the Croatia U21 team.

The views expressed here are that of the respective authors/ entities and do not represent the views of Economic Times (ET). [England](/topic/england)U21 team will play a friendly match against [Croatia](/topic/croatia)U21 to further get ready for the UEFA EURO U21 tournament. Further, Croatia will now face a formidable England team.

James Trafford played 45 minutes as England Under-21s suffered a 2-1 defeat against Croatia at Craven Cottage.

It was Trafford’s fourth appearance at this level, having made his debut last summer after impressing in League One. Or if you want the Bolton News newspaper delivered to your door, get in touch with our Gain unlimited access to the Bolton News website with a Bolton won the competition in 1989 following a memorable 4-1 win against Torquay at Wembley. The 20-year-old has been a mainstay in the The goalkeeper was replaced by West Brom’s Josh Griffiths at the break, having played the full 90 minutes in the 4-0 win against France over the weekend.

Match report as Croatia U21s beat England 2-1 at Craven Cottage in Lee Carsleys sides final warm-up match before the Euros; Morgan Gibbs-White scores ...

But, with England senior boss Gareth Southgate watching from the stands, the hosts were unable to find an equaliser on a frustrating night in west London. For the hosts, Palmer and captain Jacob Ramsey both stung the hands of Kotarski, who then pulled off a stunning save to keep out a header from substitute Gibbs-White. It is not just the senior England side who have recent history with the Croatians; the U21s were on course for the quarter-finals at the last Euros when a last-gasp wonder-strike from full-back Domagoj Bradaric knocked them out on goal difference despite a 2-1 win. Griffiths did well to limit the damage with a smart point-blank save to deny Kacavenda and another fine stop to keep out Gabriel Vidovic. But Carsley changed all 10 outfield players for their last tune-up match and they had only a late Morgan Gibbs-White consolation from the penalty spot to show for a ragged display at Craven Cottage. Match report as Croatia U21s beat England 2-1 at Craven Cottage in Lee Carsley's side's final warm-up match before the Euros; Morgan Gibbs-White scores consolation penalty for England after Croatia take two-goal lead through Martin Baturina and Dion Drena Beljo

MOTD Live coverage as England's under-21 side take on their Croatian counterparts in a friendly at Fulham's Craven Cottage.

England won’t worry about the indifferent form of the visitors and will be eager to build momentum ahead of this summer’s UEFA Under-21 European Championship in Georgia and Romania. Fresh from their surprise second-half demolition job on France last Saturday night, the young Lions meet Croatia, a technically accomplished but uncharacteristically brittle opponent. It might be a friendly on paper but there is so much at stake for these young men.