Young players need to do senior service with clubs – Blake

Blake has a key role to play in the development of the stars of the future as England Under-19 coach ahead of the European Championship finals in France next week.

The squad is firmly under the spotlight after Fabio Capello stated his intention to use more young talent following England's dismal showing at the World Cup.

But Blake knows many players show promise, get the chance to impress at various international age groups but then find their progress checked by a lack of opportunities at their clubs.

The former Leeds United defender said: "Individually and collectively, this bunch of players have done very well this season. Hence the reason why they are in the top eight in Europe.

"Only time will tell how far they can go. We've seen it before, not just with ourselves, but with other nations where they have qualified and won finals and then players have disappeared off the radar and a few have gone through to the seniors.

"Our objective is to progress these boys to senior level in the future.

"There are a lot of good English players in the country. The pathway is an issue in my view. They show potential at this stage and a bit younger and for some reason there is a blockage (at club level) and we need to address that.

"Senior teams take over and the (club) managers decide what they want to do with their first team.

"Other nations provide pathways for players to progress. But only time will tell where these lads end up. We can't control the senior end (at clubs)."

Blake added: "The Football Association can only work with the clubs – and the clubs with the FA.

"At the moment, it seems to be a big stick for the FA and people saying 'they are not doing this or that' but ultimately they don't pick the players for the Premier League and Championship teams."

Of more encouragement to Blake has been the willingness of clubs to release players to take part in the European Championships with England facing Austria, Holland and France in the group stages.

There was concern at one stage Tottenham would not allow their contingent of players to participate but they relented on their previous stance.

Blake said: "To be fair to Tottenham, they have released all their players for us so we are thankful for that.

"All the other managers, after discussions, have released all their players. In the past it has been a problem. There is no question about that.

"You take the Spanish who have just won the World Cup. Most of their squad played in the 2000 World Cup at Under-20s.

"Yet we went to the World Cup finals in Egypt last year with a depleted squad. Those are the issues we have faced in the past.

"The powers-that-be must come together and sort it out because we can't keep producing players at this level and then there is a blockage when we get to the finals.

"We want to compete against the best but we are not being able to take our best players to compete so we are handicapped all the time."

There has been speculation Capello may put in an appearance at the finals given England's dismal showing at senior level in South Africa to check out the talent that may form part of his squad in the future.

But Blake has not heard whether the Italian will make the trip to France at any stage.

He said: "I don't know his diary. When we qualified a couple of years ago, his assistant came out and we do get good support from the senior end."