Aidy Boothroyd believes his World Cup trip will prove invaluable

England Under-21 boss Aidy Boothroyd believes his World Cup trip will prove invaluable as he joins the senior squad in Russia.

The 47-year-old travelled to Russia with Gareth Southgate’s side on Tuesday as England continue to integrate their age-group coaches at different levels.

Boothroyd’s involvement had been planned for a while, before he guided England Under-21s to a third successive Toulon Tournament title at the weekend.

Boothroyd said: “Part of my role in Russia is to represent the pathway for players into the first team and to further develop how connected the coaches are across all age groups.

“At St George’s Park, all of the coaches have a close working relationship. I share an office with Gareth and Steve (Holland), they are very involved with what we do at under-21s level.

“We watch each other’s games and players and it’s the same across throughout the pathway. I’ll be a representative for the coaches in the development teams out in Russia.

“Personally for me as a coach this will be a really good learning experience. A World Cup is such a unique environment and it will be invaluable for my professional development.”

He will not join the coaching set-up in Russia, with England due to play their World Cup opener against Tunisia in Volgograd on Monday.

England Under-15 head coach Justin Cochrane joined Boothroyd in Toulon this year, while under-20 head coach Paul Simpson was with the under-21s during Euro 2017.

Southgate and his assistant Steve Holland also travelled to Poland to see Boothroyd and his squad last year.

The England Under-21s are five points clear at the top of Group 4 in their campaign to reach Euro 2019 in Italy and San Marino with four games remaining.

They beat Mexico 2-1 on Saturday to win the Toulon title after previous victories in 2016 and 2017.

FA technical director Dan Ashworth added: “This has been planned for some time. It is about connecting everybody.”