England Under-21s’ Cumbrian stars will be hoping to make an instant impact in their Euros opener today.

James Trafford and Jarrad Branthwaite are hoping to be involved for Lee Carsley’s side against the Czech Republic.

The goalkeeper and defender respectively are in the England squad who are aiming for glory in the tournament in Georgia and Romania.

Trafford, from Greysouthen, is tipped to start today’s game with Branthwaite, from Wigton, also hoping to push his way into Carsley’s XI.

The game in Batumi, Georgia, is the first of three group games with England also taking on Israel on Sunday and Germany next Wednesday.

Head coach Carsley said: "I'm confident in the group, I feel like we're in a good position and we're going to go out there and really attack every team and I'm confident we can do well.”

Defender Luke Thomas, speaking on England’s website, added: “I looked at the squad this morning and I thought we've got a really strong chance.

“Obviously we've got a lot of Prem players that are playing [regularly] at the moment and then we've got quality players from everywhere else as well. 

“I think in each position we've probably got two players that are good enough to play and I believe that we can go very far in this tournament.”

If Manchester City’s Trafford plays it will be the second in three Euro tournaments that England’s goalkeeper has been a Cumbrian, after Dean Henderson was the U21s No1 in 2019.

Everton’s ex-Carlisle United defender Branthwaite is seeking his first U21 cap having been denied an outing by injury in March.

Kick-off is 5pm UK time and the game can be watched live on UEFA’s website.