Dominic Calvert-Lewin has said he welcomes the pressure of reviving England’s European Under-21 championship campaign but admits there can be no hangover from the damaging opening defeat by France.
England must beat Romania on Friday to retain hope of reaching the Euro semi-finals following their stoppage-time loss with 10 men on Tuesday. Aidy Boothroyd is set to make several changes in Cesena including a first start of the tournament for Calvert-Lewin, who is expected to replace Dominic Solanke.
The Everton forward admits England may require a convincing victory given the possibility of goal difference deciding the best runner-up from the three groups and Romania boasting a four-goal superiority over Boothroyd’s side. But he insists the priority is simply to win.
“No hangovers from the loss before,” the 22-year-old said. “We still have two games to play and we go into this with absolute confidence that we can win and win convincingly. We are aware of it [the importance of goal difference] but it’s not a question of going into the game thinking we need to score as many goals as we can. There is no point putting added pressure on ourselves to try and win 4-, 5-, 6-0 because that might be unrealistic. For us to win the game with the ability we’ve got in the squad is a realistic aim.”
The Sheffield-born striker agreed that English comebacks in the Champions League last season – notably Liverpool and Tottenham – are a reminder to the under-21s that their qualification prospects should never be written off.
He said: “Every English player wants to be a part of what we are doing at the moment. There is no better time to be an English footballer in my opinion, playing in the Premier League especially. We have to take inspiration from what we can. We are aware of where we are and where we sit in the group and the task at hand. But the plan doesn’t change. We have full confidence that we can achieve what we want to achieve.”
Calvert-Lewin enjoyed a fine end to the Premier League season with Everton having established himself as Marco Silva’s first-choice striker in the final months. He accepts his goals output needs to increase – he scored six league goals last term – but faces Romania high on confidence given the marked improvement in his all-round game.
He said: “I came into the season having missed a chunk part of pre-season through injury so my start was slow, as you’d expect. It took me a while, with what the manager had in mind, to get into the team and I had a little run around Christmas and found my feet a bit. In the second half of the season I thoroughly enjoyed my football, you could tell.
“The new players that came into the team gelled together in the second half of the season and I flourished. You might agree that it was my best run of games for Everton to date, and there’s no better time [for me] to come into a tournament like this with big pressure, which I welcome with open arms and enjoy. I want to be the man that can hopefully lead England to victory.”
Asked whether he would have liked the England No 9 shirt in Italy – Calvert-Lewin is No 19 and Solanke is No 9 – he replied: “I’d like it more at Everton next season! To be honest it doesn’t bother me what number I have on my back as long as I’m on the pitch affecting the game where I can.”