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England and Germany could meet at this summer's European Championship

England Under-21s produced a late fightback to beat Germany and extend their excellent run going into the summer's European Championship.

Philipp Hofmann gave the Germans an early lead but Jesse Lingard's low drive got England back on level terms.

Hofmann restored the visitors' advantage after the break when he stabbed in from six yards.

But England rallied in style as Nathan Redmond swept in an equaliser and James Ward-Prowse slotted in from 12 yards.

Both these sides will feature at the European Championship in the Czech Republic and could meet in the semi-finals or final after being kept apart in the group stages.

Germany are among the favourites for the eight-team tournament, but England's run of seven wins from their last eight matches has added to the sense that they could themselves be genuine contenders.

2015 European Under-21 Championship draw Group A Group B Czech Republic England Germany Italy Denmark Portugal Serbia Sweden

This was a victory achieved without Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkley, Saido Berahino and Luke Shaw, all of whom were either involved with the full England squad or unavailable through injury.

And it was arguably not even the strongest side manager Gareth Southgate could have fielded from the players he did have available, as he made eight changes to the side who beat Czech Republic 1-0 on Friday.

Southgate elected not to start with Arsenal defender Calum Chambers, for instance, but it did not matter as England matched their opponents throughout.

Germany boasted Barcelona keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Liverpool midfielder Emre Can and Schalke midfielder Max Meyer in their line-up, and they threatened to dominate early on.

Hofmann, who plays in the second tier of German football with Kaiserslautern, showed a touch of class to control a pass on the edge of the area and thrash a low strike beyond keeper Jonathan Bond with less than 15 minutes gone.

Lingard, on loan at Derby from Manchester United, cancelled out that goal when he provided the finish from 12 yards after a surging run from Carl Jenkinson.

But England were sluggish after the break and Hofmann punished them, prodding home from close range after Julian Korb crossed from the left.

England responded well to going behind but had to be patient as they went in search of an equaliser.

It eventually came when Norwich winger Redmond drilled low past Ter Stegen from the edge of the area and, with eight minutes remaining, Southampton's Ward-Prowse steered the ball home to ensure an England victory.

England Under-21s manager Gareth Southgate: "It was 25 minutes before we started to play with any belief. We were a bit passive in the first 25. It's good we got the response we did.

"They looked a very good side. This is why we wanted these games - that's the standard we're going to face in the summer.

"There's a lot of food for thought in the game. We won't win the U21 European Championship if we play like we did in the first 25 minutes."