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Leighton Baines says young players have given England a lift

Image: Leighton Baines: Says the England squad has been energised

Leighton Baines says the England squad has been revitalised by the injection of youth by manager Roy Hodgson.

Everton defender Baines is confident he will turn in another assured display on Tuesday and give his manager further food for thought over who should be his first-choice left-back going forward. "The manager feels that we can both do the job," Baines continued. "He can call on either one of us. That's all that matters really, that the job gets done." Baines' appearance against Montenegro on Friday marked his 20th cap for his country and he feels he is developing as a player with every national team outing. "There's significance with every cap you get," he said. "You grow into it more and more. The more experience you get at this level, the better. "It's been good to be involved in some more of the qualifiers in this campaign." Baines confirmed the mood in the England camp was upbeat in the wake of Friday's impressive win in their penultimate Group H outing. "I'm pleased with how things are going at the moment," he said. "There's a feel-good factor around the whole camp at the moment. "We've approached both of these games like any other camp. We've not deviated from any schedule. There are no special plans. We focus on what we need to do."

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