England boss wants stars to maintain Euro-winning performance levels at Mansfield

The young Lions will be in friendly action against their German rivals and Simpson expects a stiff challenge at the One Call Stadium.

“There’s a real football history between these two countries and I’m sure it will be a good game and a very good test,” he said.

“We’re both in the early stages of our preparations for the Euros.

“There’s an aura about Germany, they’ve been in the same hotel as us - there’s no rivalry off the field but there is on it, definitely.”

But there’s an aura about his England side too, after their trophy-winning exploits this summer.

Simpson hopes his youngsters will put on a show for the Mansfield public.

“I think there is, everyone from around Europe is looking at England and wondering what we’re doing so well at the moment,” he said.

“We’ve got to keep our performance up at the levels we have been achieving.

“I think all the young England sides at the moment have got some exciting match winners and this group is no different.

“We’ve got players who can do good things individually, one v one, we play an entertaining style of football, we’re looking to build from the back.

“Hopefully the people of Mansfield will be able to see a good, attractive game.”

England U19s’ go into the game on the back of a 7-1 thrashing of Poland at St George’s Park.

Simpson added: “We’ve had a really good week so far.

“Obviously we had a really positive result and a good performance against Poland, especially the way we started.

“So we’re going into this game full of confidence.”

All of this international experience should stand his squad in good stead individually, as they seek to establish themselves at club level as well.

“We know we’ve got some really talented lads in our group, some are playing first team football and some are very close to being involved in first team football.” said Simpson.

“We hope they’re all going to get opportunities to play senior football and that’s the big challenge for these boys.