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Spain 'had luck on our side,' says goalkeeper David De Gea

Spain goalkeeper David De Gea says his side were fortunate to come away from their final European Championships qualifier with a victory against Ukraine on Monday.

Reigning European champions Spain were put under heavy pressure by the hosts on a number of occasions, but survived to claim a 1-0 victory and finish Group C leaders in Kiev.

"The whole team had a great match," De Gea said after the game.

"We knew it'd be difficult as Ukraine needed to win.

"I always try to do my best. It was a good game and important to win.

"I always compete to the fullest and we had luck on our side [on Monday]. We must go on [like this].

"[On the Under-21 connection], we know each other very well and it showed in the link-up play between Thiago [Alcantara] and Isco.

"We're still young and hopefully we'll be with [the seniors] a lot more."

Spain used an experimental squad in their defeat of the Ukraine, which caused boss Vicente del Bosque to admit difficult selection decisions await.

Del Bosque said on uefa.com: "It will be difficult to select only 23 players for the Euros but there's still a long way to go.

"We have good players and from here our job is a lot easier. We are very happy.

"It was a good experience given how many changes we made. Ukraine played well but David de Gea was brilliant too.

"Ukraine have a personality that not a lot of sides have and I wish them all the best in the playoffs."