Southgate warns against complacency
Gareth Southgate warned against complacency as inform England attempt to all but secure World Cup qualification in Poland tonight.
Lessthantwomonthsafter suffering the heart-breaking Euro 2020 final penalty shootoutlosstoItaly,theThreeLions have continued what has been to date a smooth road to Qatar.
England bulldozed Hungary 4-0 last Thursday amid disgraceful scenes in Budapest, before a fully rotated side wonbythesameresultagainst Andorra in front of a carnival Wembley crowd on Sunday.
The September tripleheaderendswiththeirsternest GroupIassignmentinWarsaw, where Southgate’s side can go eight points clear of biggest challengers Poland with just four qualifiers remaining.
“It’s been a lot more straightforward than last September was, that’s for certain,” the England manager said reflecting on Harry Maguire’s Greek court case and Mason Greenwood and Phil Foden being sent home.
“Look,asateam,wehaveto recognise that we’re in a good momentandtheteamareplaying well.
“There’s a squad of players, any of whom are more than comfortable coming into the side and playing well when they’re coming into the team.
“But also those moments can be dangerous because if we get any sense of complacency then we’re going into a gamewherewe’llbereallychallenged and this is a big opportunity for us.
“We can really take a positive step towards the World Cup if we win in Warsaw, so it’s a high level of motivation but also guarding against any feelingthatwewerebetterthanwe are. We’re having a good run of results because we’re working hard for each other because we’re very, very disciplined.”