Netherlands face England for a place in the Euro 2024 final on Wednesday night and Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven reckons the Three Lions' speed merchants won't be getting the better of Ronald Koeman's defence

Van de Ven was clocked as the Premier League 's quickest player during his first season at Tottenham, but the 23-year-old has been forced to be patient after being limited to four substitute appearances.

Ronald Koeman will have to find a way to combat the pace of England quicks like Bukayo Saka and Kyle Walker in the semi-final in Dortmund. But Van de Ven believes Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk and Nathan Ake have got the legs to cope.

Asked if he thought he was the fastest player in England, Van de Ven - clocked at 23.23mph when Spurs played Brentford in January - said: "That's hard to say but if you look at the data, I think you know the answer."

Koeman has preferred to use a back four of Denzel Dumfries, Stefan de Vrijk, Van Dijk and Ake on the road to the last four.

The Dutch are well aware of the grief Southgate has been given for his tactics during the tournament - and Van de Ven could not resist having another dig at England by accusing the Three Lions of playing on the back foot.

Van de Ven said: "We understand they have taken a lot of flak from the English media but they are in the semi-finals and that says all that needs to be said about the English team. I think they play defensively. We will go and analyse them properly, but what I can say is they have a lot of quality.

"If you see the quality of the players from both teams, I think you can expect that the level and the rhythm of the game will be really high. Hopefully, it's us that will have more of the ball than England so that it is England who do the running. But I expect a high intensity game."

Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo has had another outstanding tournament, following up his three goals at the World Cup in 2022 with three goals and an assist in Germany. He has no fears that the Dutch will prevail if the contest has to be settled by a penalty shoot-out.

Gakpo said: "England's penalties were very good against Switzerland, but if you see the players who took them they are quality players who take penalties for their clubs.

"I was impressed but not surprised. The quality is there and we know they are very good when it comes to penalties. But hopefully if it comes to penalties we will win."