England Under-21 manager Lee Carsley travels to Reims next week to try to convince star striker Folarin Balogun to stick with the side at this summer's Euros rather than switch allegiance to the USA.
Last night's fitful 2-1 defeat by Croatia at Craven Cottage suggested Balogun's decision could be key to England's hopes of success at the tournament in Georgia and Romania.
Their past three games were wins over Italy, Germany and France with an aggregate score of 9-1, but Carsley made 10 changes against Croatia. New York-born Balogun has scored 17 Ligue 1 goals for Reims on loan from Arsenal this season, and has seven England U21 goals in 13 caps.
He pulled out of the squad with a hamstring injury before Saturday's 4-0 thrashing of France, and in his absence England had 12 shots against Croatia but could only dispatch a late penalty from Morgan Gibbs-White.
"That is the plan," said Carsley about visiting Balogun in Reims. "You're always going to miss a player with that knack of scoring. He's going to have to make a decision, so all we can do is tell him how much we rate him. The rest is down to him."
