Coady Confident Of Squad Focus

England Under-20s captain Conor Coady has emphasized the squad are heading into their World Cup campaign "focused" and eager to do their best.

The group of 21 players, overseen by Peter Taylor, travel to Turkey on Wednesday for the tournament, in which they will play Group E fixtures against Iraq on June 23, Chile on June 26 and Egypt on June 29.

Their flight comes a day after Stuart Pearce saw his England Under-21s round off a miserable European Championship campaign in Israel with a 1-0 defeat to the hosts.

The Under-21s lost all three of their matches in the competition and Pearce has suggested his players did not work hard enough.

The Under-20s will be hoping their own efforts over the coming weeks can help lift the mood currently surrounding England's youth set-up, and midfielder Coady told FATV: "We're focused going into the tournament and the team can't wait for it, to go and do the best we can.

"The training camps have been fantastic for getting all the boys together and working on how we want to play when we go out there.

"We just want to get out there now and start the tournament."

The Under-21s' poor showing in Israel has prompted plenty of talk about the make-up of Pearce's squad, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Phil Jones and Danny Welbeck all absent from it after being called up to the seniors for friendlies.

Squad composition was also a hot topic in 2011 when a host of players picked by England for that year's Under-20s World Cup - which took place later in the summer than this one - were subsequently withdrawn by their clubs.

Regarding the group for this year's tournament, though, Taylor has stressed he is taking a "good squad" that he is "really happy" with.

The 60-year-old, who has had two spells in charge of England Under-21s, managed the seniors as a caretaker for one game and was confirmed as Under-20s head coach for the World Cup in March, said: "I've been really pleased with everybody and we're going to take a good squad out to Turkey.

"Overall, I'm really happy with the players that are getting on that plane.

"We've got different types of player and the type who can ask a question of an opponent so I'm looking forward to it."

Liverpool's Coady skippers a party which features the likes of fellow midfielders Ross Barkley of Everton and Gael Bigirimana of Newcastle, and Tottenham striker Harry Kane.

Coady, 20, previously captained England's Under-17s to the European Championship title in 2010 and has also played for the Under-16s, Under-18s and Under-19s.

Leeds defender Sam Byram yesterday withdrew from Taylor's squad due to injury, with Everton full-back Luke Garbutt being named as his replacement.