Gareth Southgate insists England aren’t hiding or making excuses ahead of Slovenia game

Gareth Southgate said England aren’t “hiding from anything” or making any excuses ahead of their final group game against Slovenia on Tuesday evening.

England sit top of Group C on four points and have all but qualified for the knockout stages, but a win would confirm them as group winners.

The Three Lions have come in for heavy criticism following a poor showing in the draw against Denmark last Thursday, and will need to put in a positive performance against Slovenia to silence the doubters.

Southgate: England aren’t hiding or making excuses

The games against Serbia and Denmark have followed a familiar pattern of England sitting back once they have scored and inviting pressure onto themselves instead of looking to kill the game off.

Given the attacking talent within the squad the way the team play has rightly come in for criticism with former England internationals Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker very vocal after the Denmark game.

Speaking ahead of the Slovenia game Southgate insisted the mood in the camp was very good and they weren’t “hiding from anything.”

“The mood is very good,” he told his pre match press conference.

“We know the world we live in, there will always be external noise but it shouldn’t affect us.

“What’s important is the internal. The performance is what we’re focussing on. The results have basically put us in the next round already and now we want to top the group.

“We are not hiding from anything and we are not making any excuses at all, that’s not what we do as a group.

“Tactically tomorrow is a different game. There are some fundamentals that we need to get back to.”

Southgate is expected to makes changes for the game on Tuesday evening with Conor Gallagher set to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield as England look to find a better balance in the team.

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