CORONATION CHICKEN

Southgate’s fun-loving Lions in the mood for a hen party as they bid to make history

And they seem to be relishing the journey to the last four here in Russia – in training yesterday the highlight was a throwabout game using rubber chickens (with Jordan Henderson, above, and Dele Alli, below, taking part).

“We’re enjoying the journey,” the Three Lions coach confirmed.

“We came here to enjoy our football.

We’ve been one of f the youngest teams in the tournament, the least experienced, and we were never sure how far we could go.

“But the improvement in the players and the hunger in them is very clear. We’re pleased with the intelligence they have shown and the style of our play. We’ve defended well , scored in the last minute, conceded in the last minute, come through extra-time and penalties.

“We’ve made several pieces of histor y. Biggest win i n the tournament, first knockout win for 10 years, first quarter-final win for longer. g We keep looking to break the barriers down. It’s been an enjoyable journey and we want to keep it going.

“For us as a team, it’s another chance to create a small piece of history. We’re only the second England team to reach a semi-final outside of our country and that’s quite significant. In 1966 we had every game at Wembley and that was a big advantage.

“We’ve got to keep getting over those hurdles. I know we talked about