• Forward says there is cause for optimism before opener
• 'The organisation has been different to previous games'
Midfielder Ashley Young believes England's two friendly wins under Roy Hodgson have given the team plenty of confidence heading into their Euro 2012 opener with France on Monday.
Hodgson has begun his regime with 1-0 victories at Norway in Oslo and Belgium at Wembley, with Young scoring the decisive goal against the former. And the Manchester United player thinks the way England approached those games has given the squad cause for optimism ahead of their Group D opener with Les Bleus in Donetsk.
"Everybody in the squad is feeling confident ahead of that game and I'm sure if we can go out there and create the displays we've shown in the last couple of games, we can go out there and get a good result," Young said at Saturday's press conference. "If you look at the two games we've had under [Hodgson], the organisation has been different to previous games and I think it's helped.
"The two 1-0 wins were good wins, especially the way we kept our shape and managed to get ourselves forward and get the goals. I think it's going to be important to do that on Monday."
Young revealed midfielder James Milner and full-back Martin Kelly missed Saturday morning's training session with minor ailments. But everyone else participated in the closed-doors training session, including striker Jermain Defoe, who returned to the England squad after going back home on Thursday morning following the death of his father.
"It was a normal training session," Young said. "We went out and worked on a few things. It's about preparation for the game on Monday and we prepared in the right way. Milly's got blisters and Martin Kelly had a bit of a migraine last night but they were the only two that didn't take part. Everyone's fully fit for Monday and looking forward to the game."
Young was quick to point out the team are working towards one common goal and there are no egos within the camp.
"Everybody's helping each other out," he said. "Everybody talks to each other, whether you've got something to say, whether you're a youngster or a senior then you're able to say it. We're a team and we want to go forward and everybody's pushing in the right direction."
Young was adamant England will not be content to settle for a share of the spoils against France. "We want to win," Young said emphatically. "We go out in games to win the game. We're going to go out there to get the three points and that's exactly what we're thinking about, we're not thinking about drawing the game."
Young did not want to get drawn into the racism row that is threatening to overshadow events on the field at Poland and Ukraine. Members of Holland's squad were allegedly subjected to monkey chants during an open training session on Wednesday, with captain Mark van Bommel branding the incident "a real disgrace". But Young wants to leave the issue to Uefa, which has vowed to act should there be a repeat.
"It's disappointing but it's down to Uefa to deal with," he added. "Hopefully it doesn't happen again. As a player you don't want to put up with things like that but Uefa are the ones that are going to deal with it. I'm sure they're going to in the right way and we just have to wait and see what happens." Read More
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