England Under-21s boss Aidy Boothroyd has insisted that he is content with his side's U21 Euro 2017 stalemate with Sweden, but is hoping to see more from his players in their next outing.
The Young Lions played out a goalless draw with the current holders in their opening fixture on Friday afternoon, leaving them with work to do to progress into the semi-finals.
Despite playing the better football for large parts, England had to rely on the heroics of goalkeeper Jordan Pickford to keep out Linus Wahlqvist's penalty in the final 10 minutes at the Kielce City Stadion.
With only one team in Group A guaranteed a spot in the knockout rounds, Boothroyd wants to see his players fully up to speed by the time they face Slovakia and tournament hosts Poland in their next two matches.
"I think in an ideal world you play really well, win the game and you're off and running," he told Sky Sports News. "What you don't want to do is lose. I thought it was typical of the opening game of a tournament, I thought both teams will say they could have played better.
"We certainly can. Overall it was a fair result for us. It's a shame, I thought we could have moved the ball quicker, into more pockets and perhaps attacked crosses better. A lot of players haven't played for 90 minutes for a while, so they're feeling it a bit. We're reasonably happy, not over-excited.
"We've made a solid start, and we look forward to the next one now. But we know we can play better, and we expect to play better next time. But today the main thing is we got used to the atmosphere, got used to the tournament, and we got ourselves a point."
As well as the three group winners, the best-performing second-placed side will also seal a place in the final four in Poland.
Daniel Lewis
Spain U21s
