Gareth Southgate encouraged by England players taking responsibility

Gareth Southgate was encouraged by the way England’s players took responsibility and handled the pressure as a challenging camp ended with a morale-boosting 3-3 draw against Germany ahead of the World Cup.

Just over a year after leading England to within a penalty shoot-out of European Championship glory, the former defender has come under intense scrutiny due to the drop in results and performances.

England were condemned to relegation from the Nations League’s top tier with Friday’s meek 1-0 loss in Italy and things looked set to get worse as Ilkay Gundogan’s penalty and a wondrous Kai Havertz strike silenced Wembley.

But the team dug deep and roared ahead as Luke Shaw and Mason Mount efforts were complemented by a Harry Kane spot-kick, only for a late Nick Pope error to be gobbled up by Havertz at the end of a frenetic encounter.

“We should really have been ahead with the quality of chances we had at half-time,” Southgate said. “Second half we started OK. Really all of the goals we conceded are avoidable.

“So, we’re 2-0 (down) looking into a difficult moment but I’ve got to say the players have been fantastic the last few days. They’ve taken some individual responsibility.

“They’ve collectively talked as a group on their own, with us, and the whole experience has been one we needed, I think, to grow the next part as a team because you’re going to have pressure in a World Cup.

“You can try and avoid pressure but it’s coming. Maybe it’s the third group game, maybe it’s a quarter-final – whatever it might be, it’s coming.

Great character and resilience to come back from 2-0 down. That says a lot about this squad and will serve us well at the World Cup. Brilliant Wembley support and some momentum to take to Qatar.