JAMES WARD-PROWSE is a man on a mission.
The England Under-21 captain is determined to make up for his heartbreak at the last European Championships by leading the Young Lions to glory in Poland.
For that to happen, they almost certainly have to beat Slovakia tonight to avoid crashing out at the first hurdle — just like in the Czech Republic two years ago.
Then, Gareth Southgate’s lads finished bottom of their group after failing to live up to their billing as tournament favourites.
It was the third finals running that England failed to progress beyond the first stage — and it is that flop which is driving Ward-Prowse to make amends.
The Southampton midfielder, 22, said: “It was a massive disappointment for me because I played a lot of games and captained a few games leading up to it, so to come off in the first game and not feature at all was a big disappointment.
“Towards the latter stages of the season your mind is on that and you want to make sure physically and mentally you’re right. We’re lucky enough that we get another chance.
“There’s six or seven of us from the last time, so we’ve all got those feelings and that hunger to get things right. We want to make sure we’re not having those same feelings again.”
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What made Euro 2015 even worse for Ward-Prowse is he never kicked another ball after Southgate took him off in the 54th minute of their opening 1-0 defeat by Portugal.
JWP said: “I know by my own standards when I’ve had a good game or not, and having spoken to Gareth at the time about the reasons why he took me off, it made me realise I had things to work on and change.
“In the long run it was a very good thing to happen to me. Though I didn’t play in any more of that tournament it was a wake-up call and I dealt with some bigger-game scenarios at the Toulon tournament and EFL Cup final.
“To get those big-game experiences under my belt has definitely helped me and made me doubly determined to ensure we succeed now.
“It’s not a nice feeling when you don’t reach the level that you should. But that gives us all an incentive to put things right.”
Ward-Prowse and most of the England youngsters were far from their best as they drew their opening match 0-0 with holders Sweden, mainly thanks to Jordan Pickford’s late penalty save.
It means England must beat both Slovakia and then Poland on Thursday to reach the last four, although a draw tonight could still help them qualify if other results go their way.
Ward-Prowse said: “It’s the first time we have recorded a point from the opening game in a long time. That’s a positive start for us. We were obviously disappointed not to pick up all three points.
“But with the way the game panned out and the great penalty save from Jordan, at the end it was a positive result. We are off and running and on the board looking up now.
“We know we can play better. That’s why we were disappointed after the game because we know the levels we can reach.
“We admit ourselves that we weren’t good enough to win the game but it shows our grit and resilience that although we couldn’t win we didn’t lose it and made sure we used our heads.
“The opening game of a tournament is always very tough. It’s important not to lose. We’ve put ourselves in a good position to get out of the group.”
Senior boss Gareth Southgate, who managed the Under-21s before his promotion earlier this year, has visited the England camp to support successor Aidy Boothroyd and encourage his former players.
Ward-Prowse skippered the Young Lions to glory at the prestigious Toulon tournament last year.
And he is hoping to continue the feelgood factor currently surrounding the FA’s development squads.
England won the trophy in the south of France again last month and, of course, triumphed in the Under-20s World Cup in South Korea just over a week ago.
JWP added: “We have a team full of top-quality players who have had great individual seasons. We have come together and want to be successful.
“We can take inspiration from our teams’ recent victories in the World Cup and Toulon and we can build ourselves on the success we had in Toulon last year. We had a great tournament there and developed that winning feeling and winning mentality.
“It is important to carry that forward. It is time for us to show what we can do individually and as a team.”
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