Johnson tips England to shine in Sweden

Adam Johnson believes the attacking intent in the England team can propel them to UEFA European Under-21 Championship glory for the first time in 25 years, saying: "We go into every game thinking we can win and we won't fear anyone."

'Once in a lifetime'
The Middlesbrough FC winger featured in seven qualifying games en route to the finals in Sweden, and cannot wait to get started. "Playing in a big tournament like this is a once in a lifetime experience," Johnson told uefa.com. "We've got to go in looking to win it; it'd be pointless going if we weren't. That's the only reason we've qualified and if we don't win it it'd be a failure. This is going to be my first big finals, it’ll be some of the biggest games in my career so far. I’m really looking forward to going on the big stage and trying to show people what I can do."

'Different player'
The finals come at the end of a difficult season for Johnson, whose club finished 19th in the Premier League, yet with tonight's friendly against Azerbaijan looming large he acknowledges international football is a different proposition. "I'm a different player with England; everything seems to fall into place," he said. "I've played really well for the U21s, we score a lot of goals, attack a lot and that's the type of football I like to play. If you ask any attacking player they don't really want to have to defend. The less you can do the better as it means you're playing well and attacking. I get more freedom to play with England; it's easier when you're in a successful team, you play with more confidence."

Fear factor
That optimism is borne out by England's qualifying performances, with eight wins from ten fixtures on the road to the finals, form Johnson believes makes Stuart Pearce's side among the challengers to lift the trophy. "We go into a lot of games as favourites and a lot of teams fear us," the 21-year-old said. "All the best teams in the world these days attack before defending. We play 4-3-3 which can change to a 4-5-1 so we're quite well balanced. It's just a good team, we're so well-balanced throughout and our pace causes everyone a lot of problems. We've got a lot of top players, we seem to gel so well and we've got a good team spirit. The main thing is to worry about ourselves and let the other teams worry about us. We go into every game thinking we can win and we won't fear anyone in the tournament."

Stunning strikes
Johnson picked out James Milner, Theo Walcott and Gabriel Agbonlahor as England's principal attacking threats although, with goals against Ecuador, Wales and Norway – the first two spectacular strikes – to his name this season, the left-winger is certain to ask opposing defences plenty of questions himself. "Ecuador was probably the best goal of the career," he said. "Maybe setting up goals is more my game than scoring them, but don't get me wrong, I like scoring goals more! There's nothing better than scoring a good goal in a big game but if I set someone up and we win a game by my assist I'll take that all day long."