And, in a dress rehearsal to the tournament David Platt's side will be playing reigning champions Italy and Portugal in pre-arranged friendlies.

The games will take place in Bradford during March and at Stoke in April prior to the May tournament.

Platt is unbeaten as England U21 coach and says he was talking about the Italy game with his counterpart Claudio Gentile.

"I was discussing the friendly game with him, before we knew that we would be playing each other again in the Championships," said Platt.

"We both agreed that these are exactly the type of games that you need in the build up to major championships."

He continued: "Yes, we'll both be able to get a good look at each other but I wont be changing the way we approach the game. We've got nothing to hide."

England reached the finals with a 3-2 aggregate win over the Netherlands in a two-legged play-off in November last year.

Platt added: "It's a tough draw but you know that when you get to this stage in tournament football that you should expect it.