Southgate sets sights on third place for England

But Martinez vows that Belgium will give everything in bronze medal game

ENGLAND manager Gareth Southgate says his selection for the third-place play-off against Belgium will be based primarily on the fitness of individual players, suggesting he will resist the temptation to give some fringe players a run-out.

All 23 players in Southgate’s squad trained yesterday at the team’s Repino base.

“We’ve set the standard of how we work, the standard of how we play, and we want to maintain those standards right to the end. The players did that this morning in training,” Southgate said.

“We have to decide who can go again physically. Everyone wants to play. Sometimes it’s not always a good decision to play if people’s energy isn’t quite there.

“It won’t be exactly the same starting eleven, but we want ideally to make as few changes as possible.”

“( There are) one or two injuries, one or two with a bit of illness. But we have high motivation to perform and finish with a medal, which only one English team have ever done. We’d like to redress having lost to Belgium already, too,” he added.

England lost 2-1 to Croatia after extra time in their semifinal on Wednesday and Southgate said it had been a tough loss to process.

“It’s obviously been a really difficult couple of days for us. We were 20 minutes from a World Cup final and then, in extra time, 10 minutes from a shootout to get to a World Cup final. The reason for us being here was to achieve that big goal.

“But the players are incredible. They’re a pleasure to work with. Their energy this morning and desire to finish the tournament well, we owe it as much to ourselves as to our nation,” added the England manager.

One player who will be particularly keen to play will be England forward Harry Kane who is currently the top scorer in the tournament and has a chance to win the Golden Boot.

Kane has six goals, despite sitting out England’s final group game, a 1-0 loss to Belgium.

“There have been some exceptional individual performances and we are very proud that Harry Kane is the top scorer,” said Southgate.

“Outside that I’m not interested in individual awards. Football is about winning as a team. The first thought for Harry has been about how far can he help the team go.

“He sat out against Belgium to help the team and it will be even more powerful for him winning the Golden Boot after making that sacrifice.”

The England manager said that Kieran Trippier’s injury, which forced him off the field against Croatia, appeared to have been a combination of a nerve issue and cramp.

Trippier was among those training on Friday.

● Some of the players will be different but there will be no tactical surprises when Belgium face England for a second time at the World Cup, Belgium coach Roberto Martinez said.

“It will be the same tactical game, there are no secrets between the two sides,” Martinez predicted, as the teams prepare to meet at the Saint Petersburg Stadium after their previous group stage clash in Kaliningrad.

“I think there is a clarity about how England have been successful in this tournament. They are very dynamic, very quick. They use that very well.

“They are also a team that have scored nine goals from dead ball situations, which is going to be a good test for us. We will need concentration.

“And then we’ll have to cope with this system they have developed, a 5-3-2 which is very well synchronised but I don’t think there will be any surprises in this game from the game you saw in the group phase.”

Martinez said he expected both teams to make changes from their respective semifinal losses because of fatigue.

“There may be different faces but I think the roles will be very similar,” added Martinez, who was celebrating his 45th birthday yesterday.

“We want to win. When you finish a tournament you carry over the feeling of the last game. We know that.

“We’ve been here a month now since we arrived in Rus- sia, it’s been an incredible experience and everyone who has been a part of the Belgian team has performed in an incredible manner.

"Every Belgian fan deserves that winning feeling at the end of this tournament. We are going to give everything we have and we know that England are of the same mindset.

“We don’t want to take anything but a positive feeling out of the World Cup.

"The game would help a lot towards achieving that,” he said. – Reuters

REUTERS ALMOST LIKE BEING AT HOME: Belgium’s Axel Witsel played five seasons in St Petersburg, hosts of today’s third-place play-off.