Gareth Southgate hopes to remain in charge of the England Under-21 side despite their early exit in this year’s European Championship.

England slumped to a 3-1 defeat to Italy in their final group game on Wednesday and missed out on a place in the semi-finals as a result, with Southgate’s side finishing bottom of Group B following one win and two defeats.

Southgate, who is under contract until 2017, said an “inquest” will be held into their failure to reach the knockout stage as the England Under-21 side fell at the group stages for the third successive tournament.

The former Middlesbrough boss has now stressed he hopes to remain in charge of the Young Lions and he feels there are positives to take from the tournament.

“I’m contracted to stay on, I’d like to stay on,” Southgate told the BBC. “I think we’ve had some massive success stories in terms of individuals that have come through the programme.”

He added: “We need to expose our players more to this type of environment, where there is intense pressure, where they have to produce.

“They need more of it at club level and that would help internationally but, collectively and individually, they would have learned a lot from the last 10 days.”

Italy also missed out on a semi-final place despite their victory as Portugal and Sweden finished in the top two Group B spots.

Portugal now face Germany in the last four and Sweden take on Denmark, with both games to be played on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the England senior side are 11.00 to win Euro 2016 next summer and Italy are priced at 13.00.