Gareth Southgate explains why he will not agree to call for major changes in England

Gareth Southgate says England must be “very careful not to throw everything out the window” amid widespread calls for personnel changes against Slovakia.

The Three Lions can book a quarter-final date with Switzerland if they win in Gelsenkirchen, but the mood in England's camp has changed after a poor performance in the group stage.

England won Group C ahead of Denmark, Slovenia and Serbia but only won one of their three games, scoring two goals. Southgate's decision to start Trent Alexander-Arnold and then Conor Gallagher in midfield has been questioned, especially as the latter was given 45 minutes against Slovenia before being replaced by Kobbie Mainoo.

The Manchester United youngster is expected to be the only player to feature against Slovakia, despite calls for Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon to start and freshen things up for England's top line.

Speaking to reporters, Southgate suggested that minor changes were the best course of action regardless of England's problems – a stark contrast to the approach of Italy manager Luciano Spalletti, who made six changes to try and strengthen his side against Switzerland in an eventual 2-0 defeat.

“The team is never as poor as people think, and it's never as good as people think,” Southgate said.

“You probably lost five percent of where you would like to be. So you have to be very careful not to throw everything out of the window, lose the things you do well and lose the future confidence. from the players who play together and the understanding that comes with that.

🚨 SELECTING ENGLAND'S XI TO FACE SLOVAKIA IN THE LAST 16

“You have to ignore outside advice and be sure of what you're doing. Equally, we have had players who have come in and made a big impact from the bench.

England's strength in depth has been highlighted many times, with Southgate pointing to the importance of having good players to come in and change the course of a game.

“Our changes in every game had a big impact, and we realize that people are pushing for places, there is a competition, we need that strength in depth,” he continued.

“The team is very united. They are training well, that pushes the starting team that was there. Some players have to be ready; you may need five or six changes tomorrow, that's more than half the team now.

“It is important that when the players come in, they do as the boys did the other night.”

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