England U-21s look to “put on a show” at Vitality Stadium

England U-21s boss Ben Futcher is hoping to “put on a show” when his side host Ukraine at Vitality Stadium this evening.

The Young Lions will hope to close the gap on the visitors at the top of their UEFA U21 EURO group with the qualifying campaign nearing an end.

Ukraine remain unbeaten and have won all eight of their matches, guaranteeing a stern test for England a year on from their first UEFA European U-21 Championship title since 1984.

Futcher’s men are second in the group with six victories and one defeat, which came away against Ukraine in Slovakia last year.

The Vitality is set to be sold out for the return fixture tonight and Futcher believes the occasion will be “fantastic”.

“It’s going to be a good game and hopefully we can put on a show for the fans,” Futcher told The Bournemouth Echo.

England’s last game at the home of AFC Bournemouth saw them pick up three points in a 4-1 win against Andorra back in 2022.

Captain Taylor Harwood-Bellis is looking forward to being on the same side as the fans in the stadium this time round, having lost 3-1 with Southampton in the Premier League last month.

Hardwood-Bellis told The Bournemouth Echo: “It’ll be nice to have people supporting you, it’s good to play in stadiums with a different atmosphere.

“We’ve worked hard this week, prepared properly, so we should have enough to hopefully go win the game.”