SOUTHGATE: I WANT ENGLAND TO RAISE BAR AT HEADQUARTERS

GARETH Southgate wants his players to keep pushing for more as England prepare for tomorrow’s tough World Cup qualifier against Poland and this summer’s rearranged Euros.

Four months on from completing a hectic autumn schedule, the injury-hit Three Lions returned to action with a 5-0 cakewalk against minnows San Marino and a 2-0 victory in Albania on Sunday.

Southgate has been pleased by the winning start to World Cup qualification, which continues when Poland arrive at Wembley for a key Group I encounter without star turn Robert Lewandowski. Tomorrow night’s match is their toughest test of this March triple-header and the final game before the England manager settles on the squad he believes gives them the best chance of winning the European Championship.

“I think there was a lot of good things but we have to keep pushing this group of players,” Southgate said after Harry Kane and Mason Mount scored in Tirana. “There’s a lot of talk about us, a lot of talk about what we potentially might be. “But if we want to deliver then we’ve got to have really high standards and I think we can get better.

“I’m pleased with the win. They should enjoy the win, you’ve always got to enjoy your wins, but I think we can improve.

“I think the players we selected are in good form and have been doing well with their clubs.

“I think there’s competition for places, so the difference between certain players is not big and we’ve got to balance freshness for Wednesday.

“But I was very pleased with the performance. We’ve had two good performances this week.

“I’m pushing for a bit more because I think that’s the standard we’ve got to set if we want to be a really top team, but a lot of good things.

“Not an easy pitch to move the ball quickly on and that meant to open up the spaces wasn’t quite as straightforward as when the ball is running quickly. “But positionally the players did the right things and they attempted to do the right things throughout the game.”

Poland’s key man Lewandowski has been ruled out of the Wembley encounter after suffering a knee injury.