DUNN

not in the finest flush of form, England were relatively efficient in defence, restricting an extremely limited Scotland to one or two chances.

They do have individuals who can make a difference in certain moments, Oxlade-chamberlain doing exactly that after being sent on to replace Marcus Rashford.

Although this was mighty close, they do not lose these type of matches, the last time they were defeated being a dead rubber against Ukraine in 2009.

And while probably without foundation, there is a self-assured streak to this group, almost a cockiness at times. It’s probably best not to flaunt it by going over to the Scotland fans when you have just scored, but Oxlade-chamberlain’s exuberance was typical. And while Scotland’s defensive discipline and organisation collapsed in those final moments, it was somehow not surprising Kane popped up with a decisive contribution. Southgate sees Kane as being in the vanguard of his new generation. He likes the confidence of the less careworn. The trouble here was that it strayed into cockiness territory, without any justification whatsoever.

Dele Alli’s swagger, for example, might have drawn Scott Brown’s scythe, but it did little else for much of the game.

The sloppiness was summed up early on when he slightly overhit the simplest of chance-creating passes to Rashford.

England were sloppy and did not look particularly fresh, but at least had enough to take the lead and then somehow recover from those two Griffiths free-kicks.

The underlying issue, though, as they grind out one qualifying result after another, is that there simply does not appear to be enough quality to convince anyone that things are going to be unfamiliarly enjoyable and even unfamiliarly successful at a major tournament.

Southgate believes that this is the start of a journey, that he is only just beginning to put his mark on the squad, that this is a collection of players that will grow together.

More significantly, he believes that this is a squad that will only improve and improve over the next year.

On this evidence, Southgate had better hope that he’s spot on.