‘More to come’ from England in Euro 2020 knockouts, Gareth Southgate insists
England topped Group D after beating the Czech Republic.
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Your support makes all the difference.Gareth Southgate vowed there is more to come from England at Euro 2020 after a narrow victory over the Czech Republic
Raheem Sterling’s early header sealed a 1-0 win at Wembley to secure top spot in Group D.
England are yet to concede in the tournament – although have only scored twice through Sterling – and will face France, Germany, Portugal or Hungary in a last-16 tie at Wembley next Tuesday.
Southgate told ITV: “There is more to come from us, definitely. We’re not fluent but we have moments where we are a good side.
“We haven’t scored from a set play yet. I know people laugh about us only scoring from set plays but they are crucial in big matches and we have to get those nailed.
“We wanted to win the group, we wanted to stay at Wembley and we will wait and see who we play tomorrow.
“They are different sorts of tests but there are a lot of good things we are doing.
“We have managed to get most of the squad into games, 90 minutes for Harry Maguire which was important, Hendo (Jordan Henderson) got 45 minutes which was a real step forward. There were a lot of positives for us.”
Sterling hit a post inside two minutes before heading in Jack Grealish’s cross to win it after 12 minutes.
Grealish was one of four changes and Southgate praised his players for adapting quickly after Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell were forced to self isolate on Monday.
They came into close contact with Scotland’s Billy Gilmour following Friday’s 0-0 draw with Scotland. The midfielder had been diagnosed with coronavirus and it forced Southgate into a late reshuffle.
“I thought we started really well, we were stable with the ball, we had worked on some of the stuff in training yesterday,” he said.
“Credit to the players, some of the stuff we had to adjust without the ball as we had to change what we were doing overnight because of the different personnel.
“It was a huge credit to the players they were as stable without the ball as they were.”