James Ward-Prowse has landed in Turkey aiming to help restore some pride for England’s battered young guns.

The Saints midfielder is part of Peter Taylor’s under-20 squad for the World Cup this summer and landed in Turkey a day after Stuart Pearce saw his England under-21s round off a miserable European Championship campaign in Israel with a 1-0 defeat to the hosts.

The under-21s lost all three of their matches in the competition and Pearce has suggested his players did not work hard enough.

In contrast, the under-20s will be hoping their own efforts over the coming weeks can help lift the mood currently surrounding England's youth set-up and 18-year-old Ward-Prowse, who had more Premier League experience last season than any other player in the squad, is excited at the prospect.

He said: “To be handed the chance to play at a World Cup at our age is something that’s unbelievable.“FIFA rank it as their second most important competition, so it’s something that we’re relishing.“We all want to play in the World Cup, hopefully in Brazil, so it’s a good chance to get some experience under our belt.”He added: “Peter Taylor has been fantastic with us all, we’ve all bonded really well and he’s had a good laugh with the lads.“He’s a really good coach and someone to learn off. He offers a lot of experience for us and we’re all buzzing off him.”

Captain Conor Coady has emphasised the squad are heading into their World Cup campaign "focused" and eager to do their best.

The group of 21 players will play Group E fixtures against Iraq on June 23, Chile on June 26 and Egypt on June 29.

Coady said: “We're focused going into the tournament and the team can't wait for it, to go and do the best we can.

"The training camps have been fantastic for getting all the boys together and working on how we want to play when we go out there.

"We just want to get out there now and start the tournament."

The under-21s' poor showing in Israel has prompted plenty of talk about the make-up of Pearce's squad, with former Saints star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Phil Jones and Danny Welbeck all absent from it after being called up to the seniors for friendlies.

Squad composition was also a hot topic in 2011 when a host of players picked by England for that year's under-20s World Cup - which took place later in the summer than this one - were subsequently withdrawn by their clubs.

Regarding the group for this year's tournament, though, Taylor has stressed he is taking a "good squad" that he is "really happy" with.

The 60-year-old, who has had two spells in charge of England under-21s, managed the seniors as a caretaker for one game and was confirmed as under-20s head coach for the World Cup in March, said: "I've been really pleased with everybody and we're going to take a good squad out to Turkey.

"Overall, I'm really happy with the players that are getting on that plane.

"We've got different types of player and the type who can ask a question of an opponent so I'm looking forward to it."

Liverpool's Coady skippers a party which features the likes of fellow midfielders Ross Barkley of Everton and Gael Bigirimana of Newcastle, and Tottenham striker Harry Kane.

Coady, 20, previously captained England's under-17s to the European Championship title in 2010 and has also played for the under-16s, under-18s and under-19s.

Leeds defender Sam Byram yesterday withdrew from Taylor's squad due to injury, with Everton full-back Luke Garbutt being named as his replacement.