Jordan Pickford backs Nathan Redmond to recover from semi-final penalty pain

Jordan Pickford has insisted that England Under-21s teammate Nathan Redmond will not dwell on his costly penalty miss in the U21 Euro 2017 semi-final defeat to Germany on Tuesday evening.

Redmond failed to convert from the Young Lions' fifth spot kick in the shootout following an entertaining 2-2 draw in Tychy, seeing the attempt kept out by Julian Pollersbeck.

The Southampton winger has since taken to social media to apologise for missing, but Pickford believes that his close friend will only get better with the experience of another major tournament under his belt.

"He's an experienced lad who has been at this tournament before so he'll move on and get better from that," The Mirror quotes him as saying. "Obviously there is a lot of support there for him but you can't crowd him after that. He's disappointed and on another day he'll score. He'll get better from that experience."

Skipper James Ward-Prowse echoed these thoughts by also offering his clubmate some support, as Redmond brought down the curtain on his Under-21s career on a low.

"It's difficult at the time. Nathan is a very close friend of mine and a team-mate at club level as well," he said. "It's important for him to learn from this experience. I know his mindset and I know this experience will make him stronger as a person and as a footballer. He is a good friend and he'll grow from this."

Germany won the shootout 4-3 to set up a meeting with four-time winners Spain in Friday's final.