Southgate praises England for ‘really difficult’ win over Australia

The England manager put out a second-string side with players such as Lewis Dunk, Fikayo Tomori, Sam Johnstone and Ollie Watkins starting at Wembley.

It was inform Aston Villa striker Watkins who scored the only goal of the game as England recorded a narrow win, but there was plenty of criticism from some observers who thought that the performance left a lot to be desired.

Speaking to Channel 4, Southgate offered some reasons for England’s struggles for fluency.

“We made a lot of changes, that made it really difficult for the players,” he said.

“It is tough playing international when you haven’t got a lot of caps behind you. We were not cohesive, I gave them a really tough challenge. Australia were good, they were athletic and well organised. I am pleased for the win after putting them in the position.

“We have given two debuts, very pleased with Ollie Watkins. There were some positives, we know we can play better but it was tough for the players. We saw a lot of things we knew. You need to give players the opportunity on this stage.

“We were too narrow as a back three when we were building. The most joy we had was getting the ball to the feet of our wingers and get in from there.”

Southgate said that the current crop of players at his disposal were the best, “since we have been in charge, yes. The young players who have come in now have a lot of experience as well, Declan Rice I think has 40 caps now. We have some powerful players, we were not quite so powerful tonight.”

Speaking to the BBC after the game, Watkins had similar feelings to his manager, saying: “Obviously we didn’t make it easy for ourselves, but it’s the first time for us all playing together. Not many of us have a lot of caps. There were only a few with more experience and in the squad recently.

“It was tough and Australia played well and they didn’t make it easy for us. But you want games like that, you want a real challenge. An all-round good night.

“They’re the best ones, the tap-ins, I’ll take it all day.

“Whenever I have had the opportunity in an England shirt I have done well. I know I can play at the highest level with these players. Whenever I go on the field I just try and do that.”

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