Sweden in duo's way

Mark Noble and James Tomkins will hope to figure when England take on hosts Sweden in the semi-finals of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship on Friday.

The conclusion of Group A on Tuesday night saw the home nation - with free-scoring Marcus Berg scoring twice - confirm second spot behind section winners Italy with a 3-1 defeat of Serbia as the Azzurrini were winning 2-1 against Belarus. Group B winners England will be the home team for the match which gets under way at 5pm London time, before Italy take on Germany, Group B's runners-up, at 7.45pm in Helsingborg.

Noble captained England to their 2-1 and 2-0 wins against Finland and Spain before sitting out Monday night's Group B decider against Germany with the Young Lions already through to the last four. James Tomkins, a late substitute against the Finns, played the whole 90 minutes of the 1-1 draw with Germany and impressed enough to give Stuart Pearce plenty of food for thought in the knockout stages.

One of four England players who figured in the 2007 edition, Noble will be hoping to go one better than last time when Pearce's side missed out on the final after losing to the Netherlands - also the host nation - with a 13-12 penalty shoot-out defeat. Nigel Reo-Coker was the captain for that tournament - meaning the second successive finals where a West Ham player has worn the armband.