Southgate: I was right not to make any subs
GARETH SOUTHGATE defended his decision to not make any substitutions as a last-gasp Poland equaliser checked England’s campaign to reach the World Cup finals. Southgate named a completely different team in Warsaw to the one that beat Andorra 4-0 on Sunday but resisted putting fresh legs on in the latter stages. It led to Damian Szymanski plundering a leveller in the 92nd minute, after Poland had made five substitutions, but Southgate was comfortable with his decision. He said: ‘We were in total control and to bring players on when everyone was performing to a good level, that can put players in who have had to sit in the stands and that’s not so easy. ‘There were a few times when we looked at it. We were going to refresh the wide players to run the clock down, but we conceded before we could get them on. That is not a good moment to make changes.’ There was a flashpoint at the end of the first half when Kamil Glik appeared to grab Kyle Walker. Harry Maguire was booked, as was Glik, and it will be further examined by match officials. Kane said: ‘There was an incident which has been reported to the FA guys. They’re taking care of it and investigating it and we’ll go from there. Allegedly it was something that was done, not said. We haven’t had a chance to look at the footage and talk to the lad.’ Southgate, meanwhile, was left to rue England’s failure to press home their dominance in the second period. They looked like maintaining their 100 per cent record when Kane fired in from 30 yards but were caught out in stoppage time. ‘It was no surprise that this was the hardest game in the group,’ said Southgate. ‘Early in the game, we got caught a few times but recovered well. ‘In the second half we controlled the game. If there’s a criticism, it’s that we didn’t create enough clear chances and we didn’t get enough players in the box. ‘While it’s 1-0, you run the risk of what happened at the end. We’re clearly disappointed not to get the three points but I have to look at what the players have done across three matches.’