Southgate: Prep must be against the best...

GARETH SOUTHGATE believes it is crucial for England to pit their wits against the best in preparation for next summer’s World Cup.

Parachuted into the hotseat after Sam Allardyce’s brief reign, the former defender steered the Three Lions to the top of Group F over the past year.

Southgate has been a safe pair of hands but is well aware that England now need to go up another level.

Underwhelming back-to-back 1-0 wins against Slovenia and away in Lithuania on Sunday only underlined the work at hand, but a different proposition lies ahead next summer.

England will face some of the world’s biggest names in a bid to get ready for Russia, with world champions Germany and five-time World Cup winners Brazil arriving in friendlies next month.

“I don’t think confidence was an issue,” Southgate said after Harry Kane’s penalty narrowly saw off Lithuania in Vilnius. “I think we had players that had an opportunity.

“We didn’t miss a shed load of chances, we didn’t create enough clear-cut chances for them.

“I don’t think Marcus Rashford, Dele Alli and Kane are short of confidence in any way. I’ll think they’ll score enough goals.

“We’ve got you make sure what’s around those type of players is solid, secure, that we create a few more chances than we did today.

“In terms of the quality of the opposition that we face, we’ve got test ourselves against the best because our defenders have to have a different sort of challenge.

“They have got to be able to play out under more pressure, but also defend against top strikers.

“If we’re going to go with young players, which generally speaking we are, how are they going to improve if we don’t play against the very best?

“They need to understand the level, which I think they do, and we need to put them into those sort of situations.”