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GARETH Southgate could not be happier with England’s World Cup preparations given the kinship and qualities his group are displaying.

With the Group G opener against Tunisia looming large, the Three Lions followed up Saturday’s 2-1 win against Nigeria with a comfortable victory against Costa Rica in their final warm-up friendly last night.

Marcus Rashford sent a soldout Elland Road wild with an outstanding opener, substitute Danny Welbeck added to a victory more comfortable than the 2-0 scoreline suggested.

“Football’s coming home” chanted fans throughout a largely encouraging display from Southgate’s young squad, who have a brief break before meeting up and heading to Russia on Tuesday.

“I was really pleased,” the England manager said, having won again without concerns.

“Most pleasing was to make 10 changes and still maintain the fluidity and fluency of the game.

“A little bit different in that, obviously, there was a slightly different profile of players, so maybe we didn’t get as many men in the box at times.

“Defensive side of the game was good, a couple of lapses of concentration. Movement of the injury ball was good, players taking up good positions and we looked a threat. We had energy, pressed really well.

“The first goal was a wonderful strike and we’ve got real competition for places.

“So, if I look at the three weeks we’ve had, I couldn’t be happier with the preparation – physically, tactically and in the togetherness of the group.

“We’ve already been through a little bit of adversity together in certain areas, and I think that’s brought them close.”

Southgate pinpointed the scrutiny and criticism of Raheem Sterling’s gun tattoo, as well as the openness in which Danny Rose spoke about his fight with depression.

“Some of t he i ndividual situations like Danny and Raheem’s have come up and have allowed us to talk about different things and support each other,” he added.

“This is a really together group.

“I think that gives us a real strength going into Russia.”

Gareth Southgate