Southgate: ‘There is more to come from this England team’
Gareth Southgate is confident there is “more to come” from his England side as they prepare to host one of European football’s big boys in the last 16 of Euro 2020.
England cemented top spot in Group D on Tuesday as Raheem Sterling’s 12th-minute header secured a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic, who finished in third position in the group behind Croatia.
The reward for winning the group is a last-16 game at Wembley on Tuesday, but England will be taking on the team that finishes second in Group F.
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That is likely to be either France, Germany or Portugal – the final positions will be determined tonight – and while all three of those sides are likely to offer a much sterner test than the teams England have met so far, Southgate is confident his side are heading in the right direction.
“In the three games we’ve played, two of the opponents have been Croatia and the Czech Republic, who I think are playing at a very good level, and then we also had Scotland, which is a unique occasion and experience, especially for the younger players,” said the England boss.
“Now, we’re looking at the World champions (France), the European champions (Portugal) and Germany, who look like they are back on song. They’ve brought some experienced players back in, so whoever we play, it will be really tough opposition. But we’ve really known the route through for 18 months now.
“The good thing from our point of view is that we’re still improving and we’ve proved that we’re difficult to play against. There’s more to come from us, and the squad depth is going to be important because we’re able to change things around.”
According to thenorthernecho.co.uk, England’s preparations for last night’s game were thrown into chaos when Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell were forced to isolate after being deemed as ‘close contacts’ of Scotland midfielder Billy Gilmour. The pair cannot leave isolation until Tuesday morning, and are therefore unlikely to have any involvement in the last-16 games.