Joe Gomez has been named as the new England Under-21s captain for the new campaign

Joe Gomez has been named as the new England Under-21s captain for the new campaign

The England Under-21s will be led into their new Euro qualifying campaign by defender Joe Gomez.

Young Lions boss Aidy Boothroyd handed the armband to the Liverpool ace on Wednesday, ahead of the squad’s trip away for Friday’s game with the Netherlands.

And Boothroyd believes the former Charlton Athletic player, who already has four U21 caps to his name before a long term injury ruled him out for much of the previous campaign, will be the right man to lead his squad to the next Euro Finals in Italy and San Marino in 2019.

Netherlands v England UEFA European U21 Championship

Qualifying Group 4

5pm, Friday 1 September 2017

"I've decided it'll be Joe Gomez, because he's a senior player, he's won the Euro title at U17 level and he's a little bit more worldy-wise than the other boys.

“Having had a long-term injury and coming through that and then getting back into the Liverpool first team says a bit about him, I think.

“He's just one of those blokes who you think 'I could be in the trenches with you' and he's well respected in the group so he would be the one.”

Gomez made his debut for the U21s two years ago, before he suffered a serious knee injury late on in a win over Kazakhstan at Coventry.

He made his comeback to the squad in March for the games with Germany and Denmark under Boothroyd, but missed out on the Euro Finals in Poland in order to fully recuperate for the new campaign at Anfield.

“I was really disappointed Joe couldn't come in the summer but I totally understood why,” added Boothroyd.

“But it's just one of those things and he's certainly very mature.

“He's a real good sort and he's exactly what you'd want as a captain.”

Boothroyd’s squad fly to the Netherlands on Thursday to continue their preparations for the game in Doetinchem on Friday evening.

After that, they return to home soil for their game with Latvia at AFC Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Tickets for that match are on sale, priced at £10 for adults and £5 for concessions. Click here to purchase tickets for the game, which kicks-off at 7.45pm.