Harry Kane admitted England must improve after finishing their World Cup qualifying campaign with another underwhelming win.
Kane’s first-half penalty earned Gareth Southgate’s side a 1-0 win away to Lithuania – a second straight 1-0 success following the late win over Slovenia on Thursday
Although qualification is sealed for next summer’s tournament, once again England delivered a thoroughly uninspiring performance.
Harry Kane admitted England must improve after another underwhelming qualifying win
Kane’s first-half penalty earned Gareth Southgate’s side a 1-0 win away to Lithuania
England delivered a thoroughly uninspiring performance in the wet conditions in Vilnius
Kane said: ‘It wasn’t a fantastic performance, it was a solid one. They didn’t really create many chances.
‘It’s a win to finish off the group, it’s been a good campaign for us and now we move on. It was a difficult surface, but we have to do better.’
Tottenham midfielder Harry Winks was handed his debut by Southgate. ‘I was quite surprised when I got the call, but I’m happy stepping in at any stage,’ he said.
Southgate was keen to emphasise the positives after making seven changes from the Slovenia game and changing the system to three at the back.
Spurs midfielder Harry Winks was handed his debut by England manager Gareth Southgate
The England manager said: ‘We wanted to try something, we gave three full debuts, we made seven changes because we wanted to look at players.’
Highlighting the hosts’ ‘packed defence’, he added: ‘A little bit more quality in the final third was what was missing. We were a fraction off on some of the passes through. We have to find ways to deal with that.’
England take on Germany and Brazil in two glamour friendlies next month and Southgate knows those matches will be very different to the tests his side faced during qualifying.
Southgate was keen to emphasise the positives after making seven changes for the game
‘It’s a completely different challenge. We know the style of the game will be completely different,’ he said.
Southgate saluted Winks following his debut, saying he ‘showed a real calm head’. He was also full of praise for Kane.
Declining to say the Tottenham striker would be his permanent captain, he said: ‘Importantly, he’s scoring goals for us, he’s leading from the front. We need that leadership through the team. He’s impressed me with everything he’s done.’