Gareth Southgate admits it was 'not the night England wanted' despite World Cup qualification

The Three Lions boss knows there is a lot to do before next summer

Southgate knows more work needs to be done before next summer (Getty)

England got the result they required, but Gareth Southgate admitted “not the performance or the night that they wanted”, as he accepted the team has a lot of work to do to improve before the World Cup.

Harry Kane scored a stoppage-time winner against Slovenia to claim the 1-0 that definitively secured a place in Russia 2018, but only after 90 minutes of turgid football that did raise a lot of questions about the readiness of this side to take on the best in the world.

Southgate was in a somewhat subdued mood despite the post-match celebrations, as he said he was aware the fans may not be all that enthusiastic about England.

“I think tonight highlighted where we are,” Southgate said. “Of course we'd have liked to have played more fluidly and scored more goals. We played a team who made it really difficult for us to create chances.

“We had some good individual attacking moments without being able to make the final ball or shot. We have had to find a way of winning of being a bit more savvy because we weren't flowing with the ball, but we do have goalscorers.

“Was it the performance or the night we wanted? No, absolutely not. But I was given the job to keep things steady a year ago, the objective was to qualify for the World Cup. Now we have to evolve the team. We have to keep winning and giving young players the opportunity to mature. To marry those things is difficult.

“We qualified 2-2 against Greece [in 2002] but didn't play very well, but everyone remembers David Beckham's goal and left on a high. But we drew 0-0 in that campaign in Finland and got killed by everybody, but that was also a critical point. Is this team where we want it to be? Of course not. It is young, but there is potential and they are going to improve. But it is a work in progress.”

Southgate wanted to focus on the achievement (Getty)

Southgate admitted that the real work starts now, and that is why he will not overly change the team for what is now an inconsequential game away to Lithuania on Sunday, because he wants to try and develop that fluency.

“But I won't be releasing players. We're a squad. We stay together as a squad. Maybe some time tonight we might enjoy we're at the World Cup, though that might take a few minutes. But there will be England supporters going to Lithuania and we have a duty to put in a performance. We want to win the game and stay unbeaten. There are one or two players we want to look at, but we want to continue building towards the World Cup.”

Southgate even joked that qualification was crucial to the economy as much as English football.

“We have a responsibility to create chances and get the crowd excited. We can't expect that they make it a cauldron without us doing that. But I have to credit the opponents because they made it difficult to create those chances.

“We know the speed and pace of our exciting attacking players, but they limited the opportunities for that to have an effect. So we have to show the resilience that, whatever the atmosphere or the feeling, our job is to get the result.

“In the end, it's crucial for English football to be at the World Cup. Crucial for everybody. Critical for the economy as well, probably. I'm not going to hide and say we are exactly where we want to be. But we have had, in my period in charge, six wins and two draws, one of the best defensive records in Europe in qualifying, we have goalscorers and we know where we can improve.”