Sol Campbell has taken his first steps on the road to management by joining the England coaching team.

The legendary Premier League centre back will be working with the England U21 squad ahead of their games against Italy and Denmark, and is tipped to join the coaching staff permanently ahead of next summer's U21 European Championship.

Campbell has been critical about the limited opportunities given to black coaches in English football and he joins the Three Lions as the FA launches a new programme to place BAME  (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic) coaches at every level of the national team.

The latest stats reveal that just 4.6% of all coaches working in English football are of BAME backgrounds and of the 22 working in the professional game, 41% of them are concentrated at just four clubs: Brighton, Crystal Palace, Reading and QPR.

Campbell – a two-time Premier League winner and three-time FA Cup winner – will coach a talented U21 squad that includes the likes of Reiss Nelson, Phil Foden and Ryan Sessegnon.