England shocker heaps pressure on Southgate before World Cup

Gareth Southgate was a national hero less than a year ago as he led England to a first major tournament final for 55 years but is now in the firing line after a humiliating 4-0 defeat to Hungary.

England's worst home loss since 1928 leaves the Three Lions facing the ignominy of relegation from the top tier of the Nations League.

But it is the impact such an embarrassment will have on Southgate's preparations for the World Cup in five months' time that is the most pressing concern.

England have only two more matches, away to Italy and home to Germany in September, before starting their World Cup campaign against Iran on November 21.

The switch to a winter World Cup due to the climate in Qatar created a quirk in the calendar that forced international sides to play four matches this month after a physically exhausting campaign for many players at club level.

World champions France are also bottom of their Nations League group without a win in four games, while Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne and Dutch manager Louis van Gaal have criticised the punishing schedule.

Southgate pointed to that as a major factor in England's failure to win in four consecutive games for the first time in his six-year tenure.

"This has been a really unique set of fixtures," he said. "I was concerned about it before because I knew we were going to have to make changes and we couldn't field a full team for every game.

"I tried to give some young players experiences and rest some of the players I think have had long seasons. We are going to need them in the World Cup and we didn't want to break them."

Captain Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling were quick to shut down any questions over Southgate's future given the credit he has in the bank for not only reaching the