Winning habit pleases Garbutt

Having won all six of their qualifiers en route to the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, England set themselves high standards which, to the untrained eye, have been maintained in qualifying for the semi-finals with a game to spare. For those within the camp, though, the team have barely scratched the surface of their potential.

Manager John Peacock said after the 1-0 win against Greece on Friday that clinched a semi-final place with a game to spare that there was "plenty of room for improvement". Left-back Luke Garbutt, who provided the assist for the game's only goal and is a veteran of England's group stage exit in Germany last year, was in agreement.

"It's been a poor performance by our standards so we'll have to kick on; we definitely think we can win it," the Everton defender told UEFA.com. "The lads are really happy with the result but we can always play better. The first half we got it up there but it broke down a few times. The second half was bitty and we just lacked that quality in the final third and were a bit under the cosh through unforced errors. We can tidy things up a little bit."

The table, though, makes pleasing reading for England and Garbutt was keen to emphasise the significance of picking up yet another three points despite failing hit the heights of previous showings. "It's a good sign," said the vice-captain. "Overall we dug in well and ground out a result. We'll look to push on and play a little more positively in the next game. The mentality throughout the squad is good and we are tight-knit. Me and [captain] Conor [Coady] are the leaders of the group and we're just going to keep the lads settled and keep our feet firmly on the ground."

Ross Barkley's decisive header against Greece was one made in the north-west of England. Garbutt strode forward from left-back and delivered an inch-perfect cross for his Everton club-mate, but insists it was not a move they have had much chance to practise on Merseyside.

"It was a funny one," he said. "Ross has been injured quite a lot this season so I haven't really played with him that much. But he likes to get forward and I just picked him out and it was a good header."