Monday 20 June 2016 06:12, UK
Wayne Rooney says England's future is bright, regardless of how far Roy Hodgson's men go in Euro 2016.
Only a point is required from Monday's encounter against Slovakia to ensure safe passage to the last 16, having secured a memorable 2-1 comeback win against neighbours Wales days after the somewhat frustrating 1-1 draw with Russia.
Hodgson's men were denied a deserved victory at the death of their Group B opener in Marseille, where the line-up's average age of 25 years and 293 days made it England's second-youngest ever at a major finals.
Rooney is excited by the group's potential and, while their best is yet to come, the skipper is confident this summer's championships can be memorable.
"We've got a very good, exciting squad and I think time will tell," he said. "I think we're not going to get judged on what happens in this tournament - I think the players have got a lot of years ahead of them and this tournament will help.
"But we're not here as a group of players for the experience, we're here to try and do well and go far.
"But I certainly think over the next few years this squad can grow into a better team, a more mature team. But at the minute, we're trying to do as well as we can and we feel we've had a good start.
"We hope we can continue that and go into the later stages of the tournament."
England certainly look to have a solid foundation on which to build, with the defence performing better than many expected and a talented midfield shored up by Rooney's presence.
The 30-year-old's first two appearances for his country in central midfield have been a success and partly down to England's impressive attacking strength in depth.
"They're great to have in the squad," Rooney said of those options. "Everyone has seen the quality of players which we mentioned before the tournament.
"We have got a squad of 23 players and whoever the manager decides to play, obviously it's his choice, we have players who can change games, which happened in the Wales game.
"It's obviously great to try and create chances for the other players, to create chances for them players because, as this season has shown, they're goalscorers. If they get chances, they will score goals.
"We know we've got good quality players who can score goals and it's important that we try and get them the chances to get them the opportunity to do that."
Don't forget to follow our minute-by-minute commentary of the game between England and Slovakia through our live blog on skysports.com/football, our app for mobile devices and iPad and our Twitter account @skysportsfootball.
Let us know your views and predictions ahead of Monday's game by signing in with Facebook below and sending us a message.
By purchasing a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99 or Sky Sports Week Pass for £10.99, you can enjoy access to all seven Sky Sports channels and watch on a TV with a NOW TV Box or on a range of devices.
