England's Under-21 history makers to be rewarded with golden caps to mark their European Championship success... with manager Lee Carsley to travel the country to hand them out to his winning stars

England have commissioned golden caps to be delivered to the stars of last summer’s Under-21 European Championship history makers.

Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones was the first to receive his from Lee Carsley after visiting the current crop at their hotel in Liverpool ahead of tonight’s qualifier against Northern Ireland at Goodison Park.

Carsley will travel the country over the coming months to hand the commemorative memorabilia to the likes of Cole Palmer, Morgan Gibbs-White, Anthony Gordon and Levi Colwill.

‘It was good to see Curtis,’ Carsley said. ‘It’s good for the rest of the team to see that there is a connection, we do care about the lads and want them to do well.

‘He came for a coffee and sat around with the staff. And just before he went I said, “We’ve got this for you.”

‘We thought it would be special for them to have a golden cap for the games they played in and for winning the Euros.’

England lifted that piece of silverware for the first time since 1984. Several members of Carsley’s squad in this cycle – including Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliot - also experienced the highs of making history in Georgia a few months ago.

‘We’ve asked Harvey to play a different role, a little bit higher,’ Carsley said. 

‘Harvey has outstanding potential. We have to make sure that we guarantee him minutes and be an important part of what we do. All the data is that he is the most creative player. He knows he has to keep doing that.’

Elliot’s former teammate at Anfield, Adam Lallana, is part of England’s backroom team and has taken part in training at Finch Farm.