‘There’s room for improvement’

GARETH Southgate has called on England’s players to step up their intensity after their performance faded in the second-half of last night’s 2-0 victory over Malta.

Daniel Sturridge and Dele Alli scored a goal apiece to put England two ahead at the interval but Southgate’s side took their foot after the gas and began to toil in the second half.

Malta have recently leaked five goals to Scotland — albeit with 10 men on that occasion — and six to the Czech Republic but England were unable to press home their dominance in possession.

Southgate, standing in as manager following the departure of Sam Allardyce, said: ‘In the second half, subconsciously, there was a feeling the game was won and we were looking towards Tuesday physically. We didn’t bomb forward as we might have done had the scoreline been tighter. There’s room for improvement, but that’s not a bad place for us to be.’

Southgate introduced Marcus Rashford and Jamie Vardy as the second half progressed but England struggled to raise their tempo — while Andrew Hogg was excellent in the Malta goal.

‘We made two positive substitutions,’ Southgate said. ‘We encouraged the team to keep moving the ball quickly. But I’ve played in games like that. You know it’s unlikely you’ll lose the game, so you manage yourself a bit. I’d have liked us to win by a bigger scoreline and send everyone home happy.

‘I want my team to attack and play very good football. But you are playing against a 5-4-1 that limits the space. I won’t be critical. The players have had to pick up from two changes of manager, complete changes in terms of how we work.’