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England's trophy-winning youngsters can boost senior side - Steve Cooper

England Under-17 World Cup-winning manager Steve Cooper has said Gareth Southgate's senior side have every chance of benefiting from the youngsters' success.

The U17s were crowned world champions after coming back from 2-0 down to beat Spain 5-2 in Kolkata on Saturday.

In June, England's U20s won their version of the World Cup, the U19s were crowned European champions in July while the U17s were runners-up in May's Euros.

Next summer's World Cup in Russia may come too early for these youngsters, but Cooper thinks there is every chance they could play a part in the future.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live's "Sportsweek" programme: "We have a plan. We have been at St George's Park for five years and all the national coaches are very close -- we work in a similar way.

"The teams are expected to play in a certain way and if it is a good one the more you practise it the better you become at it.

"The results have been fantastic -- the U20s winning in the summer and what happened in Europe -- but we are very much still in the infancy.

"It was magnificent to win last night but if we hadn't it would still have been important.

"We have to keep one eye on the future, and what we want to do is win long term at senior level. To do that, you can't work off the cuff -- you have to join everything up and that is what we are doing."

Cooper said senior boss Southgate was already well aware of the talent coming through the ranks.

"I speak to Gareth a lot, as do all the national coaches, and I think that is one of the key drivers at the moment,'' he added.

"He is very much interested in what the younger teams are doing. He is very supportive, very aware of the work we are doing, and that is a good thing because we are all working towards him.

"We want these players to come through. We select players who we think can go the distance and have longevity."

Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden won player of the tournament, and Liverpool striker Rhian Brewster finished as leading scorer with eight goals.

Both have made the bench for their respective first teams but have yet to make a senior club appearance.

Cooper said he believed the way clubs deal with the players would play the biggest part in their development.

"He [Foden] just wants to play and would play a game every day if he had that chance. Putting him on the pitch is where he belongs.

"How good he is going to be and how far he will go are questions for Man City. We have supported him well in allowing him to go do what he does."