England U21s manager Lee Carsley was full of praise for his side's second half showing after cruising past France in a 4-0 win at the King Power Stadium.

After an even start to the contest where Les Bleus were the better team by Carsley's own admission, England's rampant display after the interval blew Sylvain Ripoli's side away.

Emile Smith Rowe, Noni Madueke, Curtis Jones and Jacob Ramsey were all on the score sheet by the final whistle, with three of the scorers coming off the bench.

After the game, Carsley gave his assessment of the Three Lions' performance, Smith Rowe, Madueke and the shift in English players moving into Europe for first team football.

  • On the Three Lions' performance

Whilst the 49-year-old was critical of England's start to the encounter, he said the response from his team more than made up for it.

Carsley was satisfied with the compact nature of the host's showing, and said despite having not played together much, they improved to combine well by the end of the game.

"For the first 35 minutes I didn't think we were very good, we handed momentum to them too many times.

"When you're trying to get into the game and impose yourself on the opposition, I didn't think we helped ourselves by making basic errors.

"We're trying to create players that play as a team, and we showed good spirit in that patch, making some really good blocks and tracking runners, doing all the basics that you need to do.

"I think it was really important that we weathered that bit of play because you're not always going to be perfect.

"The most pleasing thing was the last ten minutes because we got a real grip of the game and the confidence was there.

"That would've been the first time that eleven played together, one of the challenges of this role is every game is like a pre-season match, they got better as the game went on and we finished really strong."

Having recovered from a torn groin, Smith Rowe has struggled to reintegrate himself into the Arsenal team, but he was vital to the win for the Three Lions on Saturday.

Carsley said the 22-year-old will need to have faith in his own ability to ensure he makes the most of his potential.

"I really like Emile, he's a player with massive potential, I think he showed in patches tonight that he's a top player, now he just needs minutes, to play games and trust his body to train and play at a high level.

"He got about 65 minutes out there today, my plan will be that he gets more minutes on Tuesday.

"I've always thought that he was a strong character, any player that goes through an academy like Arsenal, forces their way into the team and wears number ten for them has got unbelievable character, determination and desire.

"That's no mean feat, he deserves that because he's a top talent, all he needs now is a run of games and that confidence and belief that his body's capable of doing it."

Carsley suggested that the Premier League has a future star on its hands in the form of Madueke.

Whilst he will need time to adjust, the former PSV and Tottenham attacker showed signs of his calibre against top level opposition, something Carsley thinks he will translate into the league in the future.

"We've got some really exciting forward players, and I thought Noni was excellent when he came on, getting his goal and two assists was really pleasing.

"He really threatened the backline and then having that quality to play that pass, it's alright getting in them positions but having that calmness [was crucial].

"I think his style will really suit the Premier League, he's exciting, fast and direct, I think what we have to remember with all of these things is he's still really young so he'll need time.

"He'll need game time, chances to keep working on his game and an understanding of how a different team play, but he's got a high potential.

  • On young players moving into European football 

The standard of the Premier League has only continued to increase, and Gareth Southgate and Carsley have both been critical of the amount of playing time young English players have had of late.

The likes of Djed Spence and Folarin Balogun, who pulled out of the squad, are examples of players who have moved abroad in search of game time.

Whilst Carsley said keeping players within the English game would be ideal, he admitted that having game time at first team level would be necessary for certain players.

"I think players get to a certain age or ability where they need senior football.

"Ultimately, the best case scenario is they play for their clubs in England, but if you can play on Saturdays at 3 o'clock in front of a crowd, you're going in the right direction, and it can only be good for us long term.

"There's a lot more to it than just the football when you move abroad, and we've seen that with some of our players, it takes a lot of character to leave home, especially at their ages.

"[It comes with] potentially a different language and the pressure of playing week in, week out, so it can only be good for us when players make that jump."