BLACKBURN striker Matt Derbyshire is aiming to fire England into the final of the European Under 21s Championships in Heerenveen tonight.

After Sunday night's tempestuous group B victory over Serbia was marred by racist taunts, the England camp appears to be even more determined than ever to go all the way in Holland.

And Derbyshire, who climbed off the bench to score in controversial circumstances against the Serbs, now has the host nation firmly in his sights, as Stuart Pearce's young charges aim to become the first England side to win the tournament since 1984.

Speaking ahead of tonight's semi-final with the Dutch, the 21-year-old said: "I was delighted to get a chance the other night. It was frustrating to miss out in the first two games but I was always confident that if I got my chance, I'd take it and thankfully I did.

"Obviously, it was good to score and get a taste of the action, and I hope I'm involved again in some capacity (tonight).

"We are up against the home nation so it's going to be difficult. But we are confident we can still get the job done, and to book a place in the final would be great."

The Serbs angrily rounded on Derbyshire on Sunday evening, claiming he should have kicked the ball out in the build up to his goal because one of their players lay injured on the ground.

However, the Rovers striker, who was later spat on in the tunnel, said he did nothing wrong.

"To be honest, I couldn't see the guy was down on the floor so I just played on, but had I seen him I probably would have done the same thing anyway," said Derbyshire.

Sadly, England's crucial victory in Nijmegen was marred by disgraceful scenes on and off the pitch.

Serbian fans repeatedly made racist taunts throughout the match, and England defender Justin Hoyte allegedly endured vicious abuse from the Serbian players in the tunnel afterwards.

Derbyshire said: "It was hard not to hear (the racist chants) because they were so loud.

"It was disgusting, in all honesty, and I hope UEFA take action because that kind of thing shouldn't be allowed to happen.

"It used to happen years and years ago but I'd never experienced it myself until the other night.

"It's not nice for some of the lads in our team to have to go through that.

"I didn't hear anything from any of their players on the pitch, but it was certainly coming from their fans and that's not acceptable, which is why UEFA need to act."