IT’S WIN OR BUST
GARETH Southgate says England are ready to just go for it against Croatia tomorrow in a game his players have called “win or bust”.
England lost to Croatia in the World Cup semi-final but now Southgate believes the Three Lions are ready to take care of unfinished business.
The England manager admitted to mixed emotions after his side took the lead
in Moscow in July only to suffer defeat in extra-time.
Now at least there is a chance to make amends with a place in Nations League semi-finals up for grabs for the winner, while Spain will progress if the match at Wembley ends in a draw.
“It’s dead simple really,” said Southgate. “We go to a semi-final and that’s all we will focus on and everything else… we just go for it.
“There’s no point hedging our bets that we might do this, we might do that or we need a 0-0.
“We want to send our fans away with a performance that excites them and we have a chance to get through what has been a really strong group, so for me we just focus on going for the win.
“We didn’t get over the line in the summer and we want to try to prove we have learned from that and improved. We play a team we hugely respect with real competitors and warriors.
“Croatia will feel they have another gear to go to after the 0-0 draw in Rijeka. They will relish having to come to Wembley and be up against it. That’s the way their mentality is. We have to make sure we are spot on in the way we play.”
Midfielder Jordan Henderson said: “Yes, it is win or bust but that is what we want.”
Defenders Luke Shaw and Joe Gomez trained yesterday after missing the 3-0 win over the USA. Gomez, above, is expected to start in place of the injured Harry Maguire in the only change to the team that drew in Rijeka.
Croatia are without Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic who has been allowed to return to his club by national manager Zlatko Dalic due to an unspecified injury.