THE next generation of would-be World Cup winners are on show at Chester’s Deva Stadium tomorrow night when Steve Cooper’s U17s side take on the USA.

England kick off a four-day, three-game programme of fixtures in Chester (7pm kick-off) before taking on Russia in Shrewsbury and Brazil in Telford on Tuesday.

“The Football Association are keen for us to play games around the country and we’re looking forward to the three games and tonight’s trip to Chester,” said Cooper, the former Wrexham trainee, who has made a massive name for himself in football’s coaching elite.

Cooper led England to U17s World Cup glory in India last year and he’s now hoping the next generation can continue to keep the football feel-good factor going across the country.

“We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved but it’s all about looking forward now and to bringing on the next group of players,” said the 38-year-old Cooper, who was Academy manager at Liverpool before moving being appointed England U16s manager in 2014.

“I’ve been with the FA four years and it’s gone very well.

“To win the World Cup was a great achievement and we did it in style, scoring more goals in the quarters, semis and final than we did in the group stages.”

The World Cup winners have moved on – one, Jadon Sancho is in Gareth Southgate’s squad – so it’s up to Cooper, who has been a coach since being handed a role at Wrexham when he was 20, for 18 years, to nurture the new talent.

“Come and have a look tonight,” added Cooper, whose team have been training at Carden Park on the Welsh/Cheshire border.

“We want to encourage as many youngsters to come and watch us.”

As the top-ranked team in UEFA’s coefficient, England have received a bye into the elite qualifying round of the 2019 Euros, with those matches taking place in March.

“This will be the first time this group will have played for us in England outside of St. George’s Park, and that stadium environment is so important in their long-term development and experiencing playing in front of big crowds.

“We’ve worked hard over the past five years or so to develop a demanding and thoughtful games programme for this age group and we’ve secured some tough opposition for this tournament.

“We have two teams from outside Europe in Brazil and USA, which is a good opportunity to test ourselves against different styles of play, while Russia will be bringing an U18 side which will be a challenge for us too.

Nantwich Town plays host to Russia v Brazil tonight while USA v Russia will take place at Witton Albion on Tuesday.