CITY goalkeeper Declan Rudd has helped England Under-19s to their first victory in this year's European U19 Championship Finals.

The Young Lions kicked off their campaign with a 3-2 win over Austria in Normandy, France on Sunday, with the Canary youngster between the sticks for the full 90 minutes.

A brace by West Ham's Frank Nouble and a second half strike from Arsenal's Thomas Cruise was enough for Noel Blake's team to secure victory - although a spirited display by the Austrians in the second-half saw them score twice and almost grab an equaliser.

England's next game is on Wednesday (5pm BST) when they face the Netherlands in Bayeux - a victory against the Dutch would almost certainly secure them a place in the semi-finals of the competition.

Rudd was part of the England U19 squad which reached last year's Final in Ukraine but had to watch from the substitute's bench. Speaking ahead of Sunday's game on FA.com, Rudd said he was looking forward to being involved again.

"It's massive and not many people get to play in a competition this big," he said. "It's the biggest occasion that I will ever have been involved in and I will learn a lot from it and it can help me progress forward.

"It's obviously going to be on television and in front of thousands of people at the games so it will be a great experience for all of the lads.

"It's going to be a really big occasion and we're just looking to go out there, take the chance and do as well as we can.

"It's in everyone's mind that we reached the Final last year and I think we would all like to go one better and win it this time.

"As a group, we have high expectations and we're not in it just to take part. We're in it to go all of the way so we're looking to do the best we can."

Picture courtesy of The FA, Getty Images