THE Bournemouth crowd at Dean Court helped push England U21s on to get a late winner against Ukraine, head coach Ben Futcher said.

The Young Lions went behind after a goal from Taras Mykhavko on 70 minutes, but a late brace from James McAtee in the dying minutes turned the game around.

On the sell-out crowd at the Vitality Stadium, Futcher told the Daily Echo: “It's brilliant.

“I think when the lads playing qualifiers and they get such a big crowd in a nice stadium like this, it's great for them.

“They’re used to playing in front of full stadiums, so to come here and get a full stadium with the crowd behind them and you heard the crowd when the first one went in, the whole place went up.

(Image: Adam Davy/PA Wire) “So, it really felt like a home game. So, we kind of got that late equaliser, then it really pushed us on to go and get the winner.”

It was an emotional brace for McAtee after the death of former teammate George Baldock this week.

The Manchester City midfielder played with Baldock at Sheffield United while on loan, and he lifted his shirt to reveal a tribute to him after scoring.

Futcher said it had been a difficult couple of days for him.

“He's a fantastic footballer, he's a very lively character,” the interim head coach said.

“It's been difficult for him, but he's wanted to be around the camp, he's wanted to train, he's wanted football and he's wanted to play.

“So, I'm absolutely delighted he's got the two goals and it's a fitting tribute to a friend of his.”

(Image: Adam Davy/PA Wire) On the performance overall, Futcher said it wasn’t how they wanted the script to play out but it was a great feeling for the players to get the two late goals to win the game.

“They're delighted,” he said.

“Made it difficult for ourselves but showed unbelievable character.

“It'd been easy to die it down a little bit, but we didn't.

“We kept going, we kept throwing attacking players on and the character, the personality they showed at the end and the belief was outstanding and I thought lads deserved it.”

(Image: Adam Davy/PA Wire) The 43-year-old said he was extremely proud of the character his side showed.

“I thought for long periods we were very good,” Futcher said. “I thought we missed opportunities then gave a goal away at a set play.

“The more we go for it, the more it opens up. It was a tough shift for the lads, but as I said, we stuck at it and we got the two goals that were massive and the result was really important tonight.”

England have all-but secured qualification for the Euros with tonight's result, as the Young Lions face Azerbaijan on Tuesday, while Ukraine play Serbia in the final round of games.