Sir Trevor Brooking is confident England Under-19s can rise to the challenge when they face Italy at the European Championships on Thursday.The youngsters suffered a 2-0 defeat against hosts Czech Republic in their opening Group B match, and now coach Brian Eastick knows his team must produce a result or face an early exit.

Brooking, the director of football development at the Football Association, has been staying with the England squad at their base in Liberec, along with England Under-21 manager Stuart Pearce, who joined in on a training session earlier this week.

Former West Ham and England midfielder Brooking has seen enough to believe the young Englishman can come through against the Italians, who drew their opening game with Greece.

"I think we are quite capable of beating Italy," Brooking told TheFA.com.

"Defensively, they were not as strong as I have seen them in the past so from an attacking point of view, I think we can get at them.

"They have one or two good players though, so it will be a good test, but certainly at present, England are more than capable of getting back and qualifying from this group - but we need to perform well against Italy."

England senior assistant coach Franco Baldini is also taking in the tournament, which Brooking believes gives promising young talent like Arsenal's Kieran Gibbs, Victor Moses of Crystal Palace and young West Ham striker Freddie Sears the chance to impress.

"It's good for the players to see people like Franco and Stuart here for the games," he said.

"Stuart can also keep an eye out, as we will hopefully have the Under-21 finals next summer.

"So he will be looking if there are one or two who could come through this U19 group and then be fast tracked into the Under-21.

"It is a good incentive for them to perform."

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