Southgate’s poised for Bel of a test

GARETH SOUTHGATE reckons tomorrow’s visit of Belgium will be the acid test of how good his England side have become.

Southgate has led his Three Lions to two semi- finals since 2018, including the last four of the World Cup in Russia.

England have risen to fourth in the world rankings but face a Belgium side in the Nations League at Wembley that is top of the pile in their group.

Southgate has decided to revert to a defensive back three that served him so well in Russia, as he plots his assault on conquering Europe next summer.

But he knows the threat of world class stars like Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and

Eden Hazard will provide one of the ultimate challenges of his team selection and tactics.

Southgate

( right), whose side also host

Denmark next week, said:

“We feel a back three suits the personnel we’ve got very strongly and we think it also gives us strength in depth if we have problems losing players.

“The squad that we’ve put together for these three games allows us to have depth in all of those positions s and it’s given us good stability. We showed more of the attacking threat we want. .

“It still needs work, it needs work on the training pitch, it t needs the players to play together more, but it can be very secure but also very adventurous, depending how we play it.

“Our qualifying group ( for Euro 2020) was one in which we were able to score lots of goals and we didn’t really have the intense defensive test that you need.

“So the game with Belgium and then Denmark is a better indication of how you are operating against nations closer to the top of the rankings.

“We know the outstanding individuals Belgium have, but also the length of time their squad has been playing in a very settled fashion.

“It is one of the biggest challenges we could have outside of the likes of France and Spain, because Belgium have been ranked No. 1 for so long.”