England's future is in safe hands with Roy Hodgson and winning the 2020 European Championships remains a target, according to the retiring English FA director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking.
The Three Lions had a disappointing World Cup, but Hodgson's faith in youth was rewarded with a 2-0 win in Monday's Euro 2016 qualifier away to Switzerland.
Brooking said solid foundations were being laid for the future.
He said: "We have got to have a better depth at 16 who will break into the first team - and we are starting to see that - but if you are Roy you want them in five or 10 years time to have a better depth of talent.
"We will get there because we have made a lot of progress on the structure and have almost just got to let it happen with the people we have appointed in the restructuring over the past couple of years.
"For me, it is in safe hands. In 2016, we should qualify, but will we be ready to compete? Let's see who is available and has come through.
"Twenty-twenty is always the one I have thought about. The group of players that year, from what I have seen in the 17s to 21s, would be very competitive."
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article