Sunday 18 June 2017 23:51, UK
James Ward-Prowse says England manager Gareth Southgate has been offering advice to the Under-21 squad, ahead of their Euro 2017 clash against Slovakia on Monday.
The Young Lions go into their Group 'A' contest knowing anything other than a victory could dent their hopes of topping the table.
Only the three group winners and best runners-up progress to the semi-finals, and Slovakia are already two points clear following their win over Poland, while England opened their campaign with a goalless draw against Sweden.
Southgate spent the weekend with the squad after arriving in Kielce on Friday and U21 skipper Ward-Prowse said: "He's been around and spoken to us, pulled us aside individually and seen how we are.
"It's great to have him and Steve Holland [Southgate's assistant] around. They played a massive part in our qualifying campaign to get us here.
"He wants to show us support and give us that confidence.
"We have a lot of friends in the seniors now and it is a time for us to show him what we can do individually and as a team."
Ward-Prowse also paid tribute to Claude Puel, who was recently sacked as manager of Southampton.
He added: "I have got nothing but thanks for him. It seems to happen every summer [that Southampton lose their manager] but that is the way football is sometimes.
"It is up to us as players to deal with it. The club and the players have shown that we can cope with managers and players going."
