England Under-21s manager Gareth Southgate has told his players that they must up their game when they face Italy on Wednesday night.

A win for the Young Lions would confirm a place in the semi-finals of the European Championships, although a draw could suffice depending on the result in the other Group B match between Portugal and Sweden.

Southgate has admitted that his side can improve on the performances that they delivered in the first two games of the tournament.

"We've got to look at have we created enough clear-cut openings because I don't think we've missed glaring chances at all," he told ESPN.

"We have got to make sure the service is right, got to make sure that although we want to dominate progression and dictate games that we're not toothless at the end of it.

"That balance is important for us - we were five games away at the start, now we're three games away from the opportunity to be European champions. How do we get better? Because we will have to be better and that's what we've discussed over the last 24 hours or so."

England saw off Sweden on Sunday thanks to a late strike from Jesse Lingard.