Southgate hails resilient England

England manager Gareth Southgate praised his side’s resilience after they scored two goals in the final 12 minutes to beat World Cup semi-final conquerors Croatia 2-1 at Wembley yesterday and book their place in the last four of the Nations League.

England were facing the prospect of relegation to the second-tier of European football when Andrej Kramaric gave Croatia the lead against the run of play near the hour mark.

But in a mirror image of their World Cup defeat in Moscow in July, substitute Jesse Lingard equalised before England captain Harry Kane poked home the winner with just five minutes left to give Southgate’s young team the perfect end to an encouraging year.

“I’m very proud first and foremost,” Southgate told Sky Sports.