Southgate: I’d rather feel the noise in Croatia

ENGLAND manager Gareth Southgate would have preferred to face Croatia in front of a hostile full house this week rather than behind closed doors.

Southgate’s team meet their World Cup semi-final conquerors in an empty stadium in Rijeka on Friday as a UEFA punishment to Croatia after a swastika was daubed on the pitch before a game against Italy in a Euro 2016 qualifier.

While the England manager fully accepts the reasons behind the punishment, it gives him a dilemma in handing international debuts to Jordan Sancho, James Maddison and Mason Mount, when it won’t be giving them the proper experience of playing for England in a testing atmosphere.

‘It’ll be the first time I’ve ever been in a game like that. It will be a very different feel,’ said Southgate. ‘In some ways, I’d have liked our players to experience going there with the stadium bouncing and Croatia reminding us what happened in the summer. I could then tell them to go and deal with it, but we haven’t got that opportunity.

‘But I still think the lads will know they are playing for England. We have to apply ourselves in the right way. The quality of the opponent is really high so we will have enough of a challenge. My preference would be for a full stadium but that isn’t the case so we adapt.’

Southgate accepts Croatia were deserved winners in the summer to deny England their first World Cup final since 1966.

‘I watched Ivan Rakitic this week (for Barcelona v Spurs) and was reminded of the quality of players they have. The beauty of the Nations League is that you get to test yourself against top teams. We have to take our medicine on the semifinal. I’ve had a couple of conversations since with their coach [Zlatko Dalic] and they’ve got their own challenges, having gone as far as they did and the energy they expended.

‘They lost 6-0 to Spain in September and I’m sure that result makes this game more difficult for us.’

Southgate was rewarded for England’s World Cup exploits by getting a handsome new contract with the FA that takes him up to Qatar in 2022.

He insists he has been able to keep his feet on the ground despite the celebrity status that came with the World Cup.

‘I think I’m the same guy I’ve always been,’ he said. ‘I would hope I will never change.’