Taylor takes heart from venue for Under-21 decider

The match will be played on Friday 11 November with a 7.30pm kick-off, while the return leg will be four days later at the 20,000-capacity Stade Marcel Picot in Nancy in north-east France, with an 8pm kick-off.

The England Under-21 coach, Peter Taylor, said: "I'm delighted to be playing the home leg at White Hart Lane. It's a stadium I know well from my playing days with Tottenham, and is a superb venue for a game of this importance.

"France are always strong at all levels and we can expect them to be well-organised, strong and technically very good.

"We know we'll need to play to our potential to beat them, but you have to meet the strongest teams at some point.

"Some of our attacking play this season has been very exciting and confidence is high. We know we have the ability and self-belief to get the results we need to qualify for the finals."

England finished second in Group Six behind Germany, on 21 points, after winning six, drawing three and losing one of their 10 group matches.

France topped Group Four, which also included Switzerland, Israel, the Republic of Ireland and Cyprus, winning six, drawing one and losing one of their eight matches.