Phil Jagielka has said that the younger members of England's World Cup squad have been "the difference" for the side over the last year.
Roy Hodgson has selected two teenagers and just five over-30s in his 23-man squad, which has an average age of 26.
The 31-year-old defender, who scored in the team's 3-0 win over Peru on Friday, told the Daily Mail: "That's been the difference for us this year. We've got quite a few players who probably don't give themselves a second guess and don't question their ability. They just go for it. It's up to the manager when things aren't going quite so well to not play them or bring them off, but without destroying confidence.
"Both Ross [Barkley] and Raheem [Sterling] are a bit different. We've had some fantastic substitutes previously but in this squad it's always nice to have a couple of different options.
"You have to give a lot of credit to our manager and coaching staff for nursing that talent through the season and a lot of credit to Roy for taking the plunge of picking them and putting them in the squad. The team that finished the game was as young as I've seen it and that can only be good for English football."
England will continue their World Cup preparations against Honduras on Saturday.
Sian Cowper
