Lewington happy with build-up

England assistant coach Ray Lewington is hoping to see the national side benefit from a set of unusual preparations for the upcoming European Championships in France.

The Three Lions took the unusual step of playing outside of London for their first two warm-up matches in an attempt to make the tournament’s build-up feel like an extension of the domestic Premier League season.

Meanwhile, England’s players were not given the usual week away from football typically granted by the national side following the end of the league campaign.

The changes to preparation have already proved to be successful following friendly victories over Turkey in Manchester and Australia in Sunderland.

And now Roy Hodgson is set to name his final 23-man squad for the tournament ahead of England’s final warm-up match against Portugal at Wembley on June 2.

“We’ve changed the way we have gone about it,” Lewington told the Professional Footballers Association’s 4 The Player magazine.

“When we took over for the Euros in 2012 we didn’t have too much time to think about it. We went in there with the usual generalisations and carried that through to the World Cup.

“It was the usual – the season finishes, the players go and have a week with their families then they join up …

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