'Something very special is happening with this England side' - Alan Shearer excited ahead of Euro 2020 semi-final

Alan Shearer says England fans should be excited ahead of their Euro 2020 semi-final against Denmark on Wednesday night.

Gareth Southgate’s side stormed into the last four of the tournament with a stunning 4-0 win over Ukraine in Rome at the weekend.

Now, only the Danes stand between them and a first tournament final since 1966 when the two sides meet at Wembley on Wednesday night (8pm).

BBC pundit and former England captain Shearer insists something special is happening with this Three Lions team and can't wait for the semi-final.

"I'm really excited like the rest of the country, Saturday night was incredible," he said.

"We were all hopeful that we could go into the game and put in a performance and it really clicked all over the pitch, why shouldn't we be excited again for Wednesday night?"

Shearer is a big fan of Southgate and how he has managed this group of young England stars, allowing them to go and play with freedom.

"It's because of the manager, he allows them to go out and express themselves,” Shearer added. “He takes a lot of the pressure on his shoulders, which will be very tough for him, but he handles it magnificently. That allows his players to play with freedom.

"They don't seem to care about past tournaments, where us, the media, try to put pressure on them because of that and it's great to see."

The former England striker was effusive in his praise for the job Southgate & Co were doing in the aftermath of the win over Ukraine on BBC’s coverage alongisde fellow pundits Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand.

And Shearer admits he still hasn't fully calmed down.

"I can't help getting carried away about our chances of making it through to the final,” he added to the BBC.

“As I said on TV, it feels like something very special is happening with this England side and why shouldn't we get excited when the team are doing well? It's what we want, it's what we are here for, and it's what we needed.

“There's plenty of reasons to be confident too. We started Euro 2020 slowly but we are getting better every game. Everything seems to be clicking and the win over Ukraine was our best performance of this tournament so far.

“We'd already shown how strong we are defensively and, this time, we also showed what we could do going forward.

"Denmark are a completely different proposition to Ukraine, who we outclassed in our quarter-final on Saturday. They will offer a much tougher challenge.

“The Danes have built some real momentum now, after making such a traumatic start to the tournament with Christian Eriksen's cardiac arrest during their opening game against Finland.

“Thankfully Eriksen recovered and, with him watching on, they are playing with a purpose which makes them even more dangerous. On top of their ability, they also have the attitude that they can do something astonishing at Euro 2020 themselves.”