England U21 boss Gareth Southgate has explained his decision to leave out senior players for this summer's UEFA European U21 Championships.

The likes of Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkley and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were not included in the Young Lions' roster for the tournament in the Czech Republic because Southgate feels they will be better suited to focusing on their senior careers.

"Raheem played before last summer for us and we feel has been a regular first-choice pick for the senior team and this squad have played very closely with (England manager) Roy (Hodgson)," said Saouthgate.

"We've talked - across the two years - every time about what's the right thing for each player, what's the right experience. We sat down yesterday and finalised what we want to do.

"(Hodgson)'s been really supportive as clearly there are a couple of players here in an ideal world that he could have taken with the seniors in June. But he's wanting to look longer-term, at what's better for the youngsters to come into his squad with the best experience possible.

"This group of players, what we're most looking forward to is seeing how they perform, transferring what they've been doing for the last couple of years into a tournament situation."