Blues forward Omari Hutchinson won his seventh cap as England’s U21s made it through to the knockout stages of the European Championship, despite being beaten 2-1 by Germany in their final group game in Slovakia.

Hutchinson started, again on the left, with England 2-0 down by the half-time whistle, which was blown 30 seconds early due to a floodlight failure.

The 21-year-old had had one chance when played in on the left of the box in the 19th minute but screwed his shot well wide.

After the break, with England having made three changes, including bringing on Birmingham’s Jay Stansfield after beginning the game without a number nine, former Blues striker Liam Delap evidently being missed, the Young Lions gradually began to make some headway.

And in the 76th minute Hutchinson created a goal for Alex Scott, tricking his way past a defender on the left before taking it into the box and cutting across for the Bournemouth man to slam home from close range.

Hutchinson continued to cause problems as England unsuccessfully pushed for a leveller, getting over a dangerous cross to the far post as the game moved into injury time.

England finished second in the group behind the Germans, who won all three of their games, and will now face favourites Spain, who topped their group with seven points, in Trnava in the quarter-finals on Saturday, a rerun of the 2023 final which the Young Lions won 1-0.

Photo: REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa

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