Saints defender Nathaniel Clyne is gearing up to represent England at the 2013 UEFA European U21 Championships in Israel.
The Young Lions arrived at their base in Netanya yesterday following a week-long training camp in the Turkish city of Antalya.
Clyne, who has six Under-21 caps to his name, this morning joined his teammates for their first training session in sweltering conditions ahead of their tournament-opener against Italy on Wednesday.
Nathaniel was named in England U21 Head Coach Stuart Pearce's 23-man squad for the tournament last month.
The 22-year-old was originally joined in the party by Saints teammate Luke Shaw, but the young left-back was forced to withdraw as a result of an injury he sustained towards the end of the 2012/13 season.
England go into the eight-team tournament in good form, having won their last nine games and kept clean sheets in every one. The Young Lions have not conceded since a qualifying defeat to Belgium in November 2011.
Clyne has certainly played his part in that, picking up a number of caps this season as he looked to beat off competition from Tottenham's Adam Smith to make the right-back position his own.
England have been drawn in Group A, and get their tournament underway on Wednesday evening when they take on their Italian counterparts in Tel Aviv.
The Young Lions’ group schedule is as follows:
Wednesday 5th June, 7.30pm BST kick off
England U21s vs Italy U21s – Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv
Saturday 8th June, 5pm BST kick off
England U21s vs Norway U21s – HaMoshava Stadium, Petah Tikva
Tuesday 11th June, 5pm BST kick off
Israel U21s vs England U21s – Teddy Stadium, Jerusalem
If England finish first or second in Group A, they will play a semi-final on Saturday 15th June before a potential final in Jerusalem on Tuesday 18th June.
All of England's games at Euro 2013 will be broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports, and you can follow how Nathaniel gets on through saintsfc.co.uk and our official Twitter account, @SouthamptonFC.
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