ENGLAND Under-17s starlet Lewis Cook says that his achievements with the Young Lions have not yet sunk in as he celebrates European Championship success.

England manager John Peacock led the side to their second European Championship in four years when the Young Lions beat Holland in a penalty shootout in Malta.

The Leeds United midfielder, a former pupil at Tadcaster Grammar School, started two of the three group matches in the tournament along with playing the full 90 minutes in the semi-final victory over Portugal.

“I’m still loving it that we won," he said. "I don’t think it will properly sink in until I get back playing and talk about it with the lads. It has been good for the club and for the country.”

The manner of the victory will also give hope for England fans in the future as the side converted all four of their penalties compared to their opponents' solitary one.

Despite 17-year-old Cook being substituted with six minutes from time, he knew his team-mates would finish the job and that they can benefit from the tournament experience.

“It was great to win on penalties," he said. "We were practising them in training every day to make sure that if it came to it on the day we could do the job.

"It was international football so we were playing against really strong opponents in every game and I think that I have learned a lot.

"There was a pressure of playing in front of lots of people; I think that there were 9,000 watching the final, the experience was unbelievable.”

But Cook is not getting complacent about his future at Leeds United despite the national success. He is focusing on cementing his place in the under-21s squad and eventually into first team.

He said: “The club is great for pushing youngsters through. We’ve just got to work hard and hopefully we’ll get a chance in the first team.”