Gareth Southgate urges his England players to get the Wembley crowd on their feet against Slovakia

The England manager wants his team to put on an attacking display at Wembley, after their 4-0 victory over international minnows Malta failed to entertain

Southgate wants England to attack against Slovakia (Getty)

Gareth Southgate has urged his England team to bring the Wembley crowd to their feet when they host Slovakia on Monday night, after their underwhelming victory over international minnows Malta.

England ran out 4-0 winners in Ta' Qali on Friday night, but in truth the score-line flattered Southgate’s side. The score was still goalless at half-time and England laboured for long periods against Malta, who are ranked 190^th in Fifa world rankings – a place below Bangladesh and a place above Djibouti.

And Southgate wants to see his team put on a more entertaining display when they host Slovakia, their principal rivals in Group F.

Victory for England would all but ensure their qualification for the 2018 World Cup, putting the Three Lions five points above their rivals with only games against Slovenia and Lithuania remaining.

“It's a great opportunity for us, a home game. It's a great opportunity for the Wembley crowd to get behind us as well,” Southgate said at his pre-match press conference on Sunday afternoon.

“We are playing good opposition so we've got to make sure we are tactically prepared, which we will be, but also we've got to have belief in the team that we've got.

Southgate wants to see the Wembley crowd on their feet (Getty)

“We've got some exciting players and we want to show that.

“We know the task we have; we know the opportunity. The whole country wants to be at a World Cup.

“We have a responsibility to get them on their feet. But equally everywhere we go around the world, the opposition crowds really give the team a lift.

“This result can virtually get us to Russia so everybody wants that and it would be great if we get the level of support that I know that stadium can bring.”

Henderson will keep hold of the captain's armband (Getty)

Southgate, who also revealed that Jordan Henderson would retain the captain’s armband for the qualifier, added that he was considering bringing Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford into his starting line-up for the clash.

“He is a talent with high potential and we really like his mentality,” said Southgate.

“He has been playing very well for Manchester United this season and we wouldn't hesitate to start him.

“Starting him was a possibility in Malta but he missed some of the training, not only with us but the week before with his club. We have been looking after him a bit.

“I have a lovely dilemma with regard to our attacking positions. We made three excellent changes the other night and got a very positive reaction and I also had Daniel Sturridge and Jermain Defoe sat next to me.”