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• England boss Gareth Southgate targets unbeaten run ahead of Euro 2024

  Gareth Southgate wants England to go into next summer’s Euros with momentum and is targeting an unbeaten run all the way through to Germany.

  Having wrapped up progress to next year’s finals with two games to spare, Friday’s forgettable 2-0 victory against Malta all-but assured their place among the top seeds at the December 2 draw.

  England cruised to qualification from what had looked to be a potentially tricky pool and Southgate wants his side to end 2023 with a bang as they round off Group C away to North Macedonia on Monday.

  But with Euro 2024 glory their stated ambition, the former defender wants his players to keep their foot on the gas.

  “We’ve had a really good calendar year and we want to finish it well,” the England manager said ahead of the trip to Skopje. “Simple as that.

  “We should be aiming to go, if we can, into the tournament unbeaten. We’ve got some tough games coming ahead.

  “I mean, I’m a bit loathed to say that because then you start looking for draws when you want to go and win matches as well, so I want to get the messaging right on that.

  “But, you know, it’s good for us to be away from Wembley again, a challenging environment because that’s what we’re going to be in next summer.”

  England have not lost a match since last December’s galling 2-1 defeat to eventual runners-up France in their World Cup quarter-final clash in Qatar.

  Les Bleus are among their main rivals for silverware next summer, with Southgate’s side stepping up preparations for the Euros with challenging March friendlies against Brazil and Belgium at Wembley.

  Both opponents will provide stern tests for a team that Southgate says cannot afford to fall short of the level “they need to be at” like they were against Mediterranean minnows Malta.

  “The teams we’ve got in March, we wouldn’t get away with it,” Southgate said. “And the players just would have a different level of motivation (compared to against Malta).

  “This week was always going to be difficult. We’ve already qualified, the players are in the middle of a load of matches.

  “We’re trying to look after a few physically with the team selection, so you’re making changes that, had we needed to win tonight to qualify, might be different.

  “So, yeah, the whole week has been a little bit like that – couldn’t really get the players on the pitch until Wednesday and as a consequence we were flat. I accept that.

  “That’s where we were but I’m not going to get into the players about that. I know why and they’ve won another game of football.

  “It could have been by more. Not quite sure why the third (from Declan Rice) was disallowed, but there we are.”

   

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  As frustrating as Friday night was at Wembley, England remain well placed for silverware in Southgate’s fourth – and quite possibly final – major tournament at the helm.

   

  There is no time to waste with chances to work together limited, plus the fact Monday’s trip to Skopje looks likely to be their final match on foreign soil until the Euros get under way in June.

  North Macedonia are expected to be far better than in June’s 7-0 Old Trafford annihilation and Southgate has a number of things to consider before settling on his side for the Group C finale.

  “A lot of our decision-making is physical as much as anything at the moment, so it’s a strange thing,” he said.

  “Probably if you’ve still got to qualify there’s a different focus on the games and everybody’s happy and understands their players have got to play.

  “You’re not subconsciously thinking about ‘should we be pushing players out for another game?’

  “So, we need to look at where we are after this game in terms of any knocks and bumps.

  “We’ve got some fresh players to come in. We want to get the balance of the team right and then assess whether there are certain things we want to see and learn from Monday night’s game as well.”

• Saka avoids commenting on VAR after England’s 2-0 win over Malta

  Bukayo Saka refused to be drawn into more VAR controversy following England’s mundane Euro 2024 qualifying win over Malta.

  The Arsenal winger has seen club manager Mikel Arteta handed a Football Association charge for his criticism of referees and VAR in the recent 1-0 Premier League defeat at Newcastle.

  Arteta said it was “embarrassing” and a “disgrace” that Anthony Gordon’s goal was allowed to stand following a lengthy check.

  England limped to a forgettable 2-0 victory over Malta at Wembley on Friday night but saw captain Harry Kane booked for simulation when there appeared to be clear contact from Malta goalkeeper Henry Bonello.

  Saka was introduced at the interval and set up Kane to double England’s lead before his Arsenal team-mate Declan Rice had a goal ruled out when VAR intervened once again to rule that Kane was offside.

  “Honestly, let’s not make comments about VAR tonight,” Saka replied when asked about the tight calls.

  “I think let’s just focus on the win, the three points and be positive about it.”

  England had taken an early lead through an Enrico Pepe own goal but then toiled, with no shot on target until well into the second-half and Kane shown a yellow card having been accused of going to ground to easily.

  Asked if he had ever known Kane to dive, Saka added: “No, no. Even if I did I’m not going to say it now! He’s not a diver.

  “I think it was a clear penalty from what I saw. I thought even VAR would check it and overturn it but I don’t know what they saw.”

  While the win over the minnows of Malta may have been wholly unconvincing, it does mean Gareth Southgate’s side are all-but assured of being top seeds at Euro 2024.

  “(That is) very important,” Saka said.

  “Going into this camp Gareth made that really clear and was clear that it was important for us.

  “So obviously the mindset going into these two games we made sure that we were on it and we made sure that we were ready to win, so we won today – obviously we don’t want to lose to North Macedonia, the mindset (is) to go there and win again. So that’s what we’re focused on.

  “I think it’s a game where we didn’t really start the best, obviously we tried to pick up the pace but we have to give some credit to Malta as well, they played quite well.

  “But in the end, we won 2-0, we got the three points so now we just have to move on.”

• Gareth Southgate: No concern for England at Euro 2024 despite Malta performance

  Gareth Southgate said England’s players fell short of the standards they “need to be at” against Malta but had no concerns about their attitude and aptitude ahead of next summer’s European Championship.

  Nobody at Wembley expected anything other than a victory from the side ranked fourth in the world against the one nestled between Fiji and Bermuda in 171st.

  But already-qualified England made hard work of a straightforward Group C qualifying assignment on Friday, with Enrico Pepe’s own goal giving the hosts a lead in a first half in which they failed to muster a single shot on target.

  Harry Kane added another after a rare moment of quality interplay in the second half as Southgate’s side limped to a 2-0 victory that all but assures their place among the top seeds at next month’s Euro 2024 draw.

  “We didn’t start the game well,” the England boss said. “I’ve been in football for 35 years and if you don’t start well, it’s really difficult to pick it up.

  “We needed, of course, to show better quality with the ball but also we were a bit stretched without it and a little bit disjointed in our pressing at times.

  “We were not the level we would want to be at. We were not the level that we need to be at.

  “But, equally, this group of players have been exceptional and I’m not going to start getting into their ribs too much about a performance like tonight.

  “We made a few changes, we didn’t hit the levels we would have liked to have but they managed to win the game.

  “Not in the style we’d have liked for the supporters but, in the end, we’ve won comfortably, as we should.”

  England now head onto Skopje to complete their Euro 2024 qualification campaign against North Macedonia as preparations continue for next summer.

  Glory in Germany is the sole focus and Southgate dismissed the suggestion that his players taking their foot off the gas at home to Malta was a worrying sign.

  “No, it’s not a worry because I think sometimes when players have so many matches they almost self-regulate,” Southgate said.

  “I’ve been a player. You know that there’s a certain level you need to hit to beat Italy here and you know that you don’t have to hit that level to win today’s game.

  “Although you would think that everybody would be at the same level all the time, that’s not the reality of football.

  “I’ve played in those matches myself and there are nights where subconsciously you just do enough to win and I think that’s a little bit where we were tonight.”

  England were below par for the most part on Friday, but Southgate still saw things he liked in their final home match of an unbeaten year.

  “We scored a lovely second goal and I think there were some individual performances that were very positive,” he added.

  “I thought Trent (Alexander-Arnold) was very, very good (in midfield). Him and Phil (Foden) in the first half were the two that looked like opening things up.

  “I thought Marc Guehi had a very mature performance again. He’s really growing as an international footballer.

  “It was lovely to get Cole Palmer on and give him a feel of things and I thought he looked really very comfortable in the environment.”

  The result meant Malta ended qualification bottom of Group C with defeats in all eight of their games, but they showed signs of promise against the Euro 2020 runners-up.

  Teddy Teuma went close to a famous opener just 28 seconds into the match at Wembley, where head coach Michele Marcolini praised his players’ efforts.

  “I’m very proud of my players,” the Malta boss said. “I think they came here in Wembley without fear, always brave. We tried to be as offensive as possible.

  “They reacted very, very well to falling behind. I think during these European qualifiers, we grew a lot and in these last matches against Ukraine and England played very well.

  “For everything, to grow, we need time. I am very happy with our performance and the regret is we didn’t score. It would have been amazing.

  “Apart from that, we wanted to make the fans proud and I think today the players put on the pitch the last drop of sweat I asked them to do yesterday.”