Platt's boys have strength in mind

Despite their winning start on Friday night, David Platt has warned his England Under-21 side that they will need genuine mental toughness if they are to make a major impact at the European Championship.

Platt's side launched their campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over hosts Switzerland, the first of a possible five games in 12 days. England will meet Italy in Basel tomorrow night knowing that victory will almost certainly put them into the semi-finals after Italy drew with Portugal in their opening fixture.

But there is much hard work to be done before Platt and his players can even contemplate an extended stay after being pushed all the way by the Swiss in a game which did much to sharpen their edge for the tests ahead.

"The players will learn from that kind of experience," he said. "The message that goes into the dressing room is that we have five games in 12 days. I can't do anything about that. Physically, it's impossible for everybody, so mentally, we have to be strong and when we shut that dressing- room door, that's us and the outside world doesn't count."

It was imperative that England won their first game if they are to realise their ambition of winning the tournament for the first time, but they came mightily close to surrendering their advantage after a lightning start.

Jermain Defoe put England in front with just two minutes gone after Jermaine Pennant broke into space down the right and delivered a telling cross, and Peter Crouch doubled the lead eight minutes after half-time after David Dunn's free-kick had been blocked. But a rasping free-kick from Alexander Frei sparked a concerted fightback, and it took some late heroics from keeper Paul Robinson to keep the points safely in his side's grasp.

"It was always going to be a tough game," said defender Gareth Barry. "It was the first game and they're the home team. They had a lot of fans here wanting them to win, so there was a lot of pressure on us. But any sort of win in the first game was a big result and we're very happy."

Hungarian referee Attila Hanacsek gave England food for thought with a barrage of decisions for seemingly innocuous challenges, and Barry admitted that had made life difficult. "Any slight tackle, even if you won the ball, he was blowing up, so I think that's the main lesson – you've got to try to stay on your feet when you're tackling."

Swiss coach Bernard Challandes was hoping the form his side showed would be carried through to tomorrow's meeting with Portugal. "England are a great team defensively and very strong in offence and I'm very proud that my team performed so well against them," he said. "The response of the spectators after the game showed how well we played. We would have liked to win, but with the same kind of performance, it could be possible to win against Portugal."