England U21 boss Gareth Southgate: 'I won't make strict rules for players'

England Under-21s manager Gareth Southgate has insisted that he will put his trust in his players by not creating strict rules for the duration of the Under-21 European Championship in the Czech Republic.

The Young Lions will begin their campaign with a match against Portugal on Thursday, but they have already touched down in their base in Olomouc.

Southgate has claimed that he wants there to be a relaxed atmosphere among the squad and will allow the players to walk into town and mix with the locals.

"I don't have a load of rules," Southgate told reporters. "They know they have got to be respectful, which is being on time for things and so on.

"When you have lists of rules and fines, number one, someone has to collect them in and that is a problem in itself, and number two, I'm not sure that is discipline - that's just putting rules up and I'm not sure that means anything. I think the players have got to be relaxed enough so that they play."

England secured a 1-0 win over Belarus in their final Euro 2015 warm-up match last Thursday.