GARETH: I NEEDED TO SEE A BACK FOUR PLAY

teams, whatever the circumstances or the atmosphere or the pitch, find a way of playing. I was pleased the players did that tonight. I think the application of the players was superb. There was no let up in their work ethic throughout the game. Defensively they were really strong, showed good enthusiasm to play, and our performance was really good.’ As revealed by Sportsmail yesterday, Southgate played with a four-man defence having utilised a back-five for over 12 months. He explained that one of the key reasons behind his shift in tactics is because he feels his team are no longer as vulnerable as they once were. ‘The 3-5-2 allowed some players to bed into international football,’ added Southgate. ‘People like Harry Maguire, going into the World Cup, I felt we needed a bit more protection for the defence and

the opportunity to get two forwards in the game. ‘Now the players are more established and look comfortable. I don’t think you should ever be rigid and stick to a formation and say that is it. I wanted to look at a back four, as without the ball we have suffered a little bit because of the shape and I look at the young players coming through, then there are wide players and No8s who might suit that system. We have got to keep learning it but I thought the team executed it really well.’ Southgate also backed captain Kane, now six games without an international goal. ‘Harry will get us goals. The most important thing for the team is we create chances, look dangerous, and the players who didn’t score tonight will score.’ A number of players spoke of the eerie atmosphere in the empty stadium. Dier said: ‘It was strange, the first experience of it for all of us. We saw a couple of fans got up on a hill (outside the ground) but once the game started it was in the back of our minds We could easily hear the ones on the hill, they were the only ones here.’ There was a promising first cap for sub Jadon Sancho, 18 (left).