England Under-21 boss Lee Carsley hailed his goal-hungry Young Lions after they crushed Serbia 9-1.

The hosts ran riot at the City Ground to continue a flawless start to their European title defence.

Noni Madueke, Jaden Philogene and Harvey Elliott scored twice as Liam Delap, Jonathan Rowe and Luka Subotic’s own goal completed the Euro 2025 qualifying win.

A dominant England had to come from behind after Vladimir Lucic’s shock opener but the Young Lions remain top of Group F.

“You can’t afford to waste too many chances and they were cutthroat in the second half. It was good to see because it helps with their confidence,” said Carsley, who takes his team to Slovakia to face Ukraine on Monday.

“Sometimes when you see the scoreline, if you hadn’t been at the game, you’d think it was a walk in the park but it didn’t feel like that, especially going a goal down.

“We spoke about it a few days ago, how will this squad react to a setback? To go a goal down when you are so in control, it’s testament to the players they responded the right way.”

England were dominant from the off and Charlie Cresswell, Elliott and Philogene had already gone close before the visitors struck when Lucic guided the ball into the top corner.

But Hull’s Philogene levelled after 38 minutes, with Delap and Elliott giving England a 3-1 lead at the break.

Two goals in seven second-half minutes from Madueke put England in complete control and Philogene added a sixth after 63 minutes.

A comical Subotic own goal made it seven before Rowe and Elliott wrapped it up.

Carsley added: “The fundamentals of tonight were based on outworking your opponent. It’s important if you are going to get a long career and play for England you can be technically and physically better than your opponent.

“We did that all over the pitch. When the scoreline started getting away from Serbia we didn’t stop.”