England U21 v Croatia U21: Young Lions won't wobble

The big Lilywhite machine Harry Kane has been productive lately

Michael Lintorn expects England U21 to maintain their tasty form in the first leg of their European U21 Championship play-off...

England U21 v Croatia U21
Friday, 17:45
Live on BT Sport 1

Match Odds: England U21 1.625/8, Croatia U21 6.411/2, The Draw 4.3100/30

The squad members change every two years but England U21's aptitude for two-legged European U21 Championship play-off combat remains unaltered.

In the build-up to 2007, they beat Germany U21 1-0 at home and 2-0 away, with Leighton Baines the hero of the first leg and Theo Walcott starring in the second. For 2009, Wales U21 were their victims, a Gabriel Agbonlahor-sealed 3-2 victory in Cardiff meaning that they could afford a 2-2 draw in the return.

Their 2011 position was secured with a 2-1 success against Romania U21 in Norwich (Jordan Henderson and Chris Smalling) followed up by a 0-0 draw and in 2013 they overcame Serbia U21 1-0 twice courtesy of first Craig Dawson and then Connor Wickham.

Possessing that pedigree - no other nation qualified for all four of those editions, indeed holders Spain U21 were the only others to participate at each of the most recent two - renders it no surprise that the Young Lions are as fancied as 1.625/8 to assume a first-leg advantage at Molineux.

The transition from underappreciated Stuart Pearce, who led them to the semi-finals in 2007 and final in 2009, to Gareth Southgate has gone smoother than appeared likely when the opening two Group 1 ties saw England U21 nudge past Moldova U21 1-0 and be held 1-1 away to Finland U21.

However, they recovered to record eight consecutive qualifying triumphs, scoring three or more in six. That progress was supplemented by a promising effort in the Toulon Tournament this summer, finishing second to Brazil U20 in a group that featured South Korea U20, Colombia U20 and Qatar U20. Their only defeats came by one-goal margins to Brazil U20 and Portugal U21.

Southgate has assembled a strong squad, with Jack Butland, Luke Shaw, Will Hughes, Saido Berahino and Harry Kane among those picked. They should be too good for a Croatia U21 side who, though impressive to date in this campaign, failed in their previous five qualification bids, losing both legs of play-offs to Spain U21 (2011) and Serbia and Montenegro U21 (2006) in that period.

If you want an odds-against bet then Kane to score has to be that option at 2.3211/8, having struck in both of his last two Young Lions outings (five in seven in total) as well as three times in three starts for Tottenham this season.

Best Bet: Back England U21 to win @ 1.625/8
Other Recommended Bet: Back Kane to score @ 2.3211/8