England U21 star Scott hails team-mate Anderson ahead of Euros semi-final | OneFootball

England U21 midfielder Alex Scott hailed teammate Elliot Anderson for his significant impact in helping the Young Lions progress to the semi-finals of the U21 European Championship.

The pair have impressed as defensive midfielders in Lee Carsley’s 4-2-2-2 system throughout this summer’s tournament.

Anderson had a standout season for Nottingham Forest, providing eight goal contributions as the Reds secured European football for the first time since 1996.

The Bournemouth midfielder was full of praise for his midfield partner, with the duo expected to start against the Netherlands in the semi-final on Wednesday night.

“[It’s been] really enjoyable,” he said. “He’s obviously had an amazing season at Forest. He’s shown what he can do in the Premier League.

“Then, to come here, he’s a massive player for us and he brings us so much experience, energy and his technical ability is very good as well. I’ve loved every minute of playing next to him in midfield.

“We have a great relationship off the pitch and that comes on the pitch as well. He’s a top, top player and we get along all the time.”

Scott will be hoping to draw on experience gained from competing in the U19 European Championship back in 2022, where he scored with his first touch of the game in the semi-final against Italy.

“It’s on a different scale,” he said. “You’re playing for the U21s now, and we’ve seen how good they were two years ago and what it took for them to win it. So I think that’s almost the baseline for us.

“Like (Lee) Carsley said, we’re a different group of players. We know what it takes to win, some of us, in the U19s. But we’re just looking forward to it. We’ve been working so hard throughout the qualifying campaign, and we deserve to be here.

“Obviously, we’re an England team. We go into every game with the mindset that we have the ability to win the game. So there’s no reason why we’re not going to do that tomorrow.”