Southgate to stick to principles

LONDON: Gareth Southgate pledged to stick to his principles after Spain delivered an uncomfortable reality check at Wembley but admitted he was unsure whether England had time to become genuine Euro 2020 challengers.

England were surprise World Cup semi-finalists in July, riding a wave of euphoria back home, but their 2-1 Nations League defeat on Saturday was their third consecutive loss.

Even during their moraleboosting run in Russia, manager Southgate warned there was still work to do and the performance at Wembley underlined that message.

“I think we’ve got some players who can and have shown tonight they can perform at that level, and there’s some that are still a work in progress,” he said.

“We have got 19 matches, it’s not very long, but, in my opinion, we have got the best group of players in the country here. I think we have got to keep faith in the way we’re trying to play, otherwise we go back to what we did historically and there’s no way I believe we’ll ever be a top team if we do that,” Southgate added.

Southgate plans to rotate his side at the King Power Stadium in Leicester and intends to bring in reinforcements from the Under-21s squad.

Manchester United defender Luke Shaw left the field on a stretcher against Spain after a heavy fall but said he was “doing fine”.