Derby County’s Will Hughes and Jonathan Mitchell were unused substitutes as England’s Under-21s got their 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Finals campaign underway on Friday evening.


The Young Lions played out a 0-0 draw against Sweden and were indebted to a penalty save from Everton new-boy Jordan Pickford to earn them a point in Kielce.

Pickford, signed by the Toffees for a deal worth £30 Million yesterday from Sunderland, saved Linus Wahlqvist's spot-kick and also kept out Carlos Strandberg's tame follow-up with 10 minutes to go.

Midfielder Hughes and goalkeeper Mitchell watched on from the bench and were not called upon during the 90 minutes.

England, managed by Aidy Boothroyd, have two further Group A games to play as they look to make the knockout stages, against Slovakia next Monday and then hosts Poland three days later on Thursday.