England boss Sarina Wiegman has said she is “very worried” about the playing calendar after naming her squad for this month’s Women’s Nations League double-header.

The Lionesses return to action, after their defeat in the World Cup final on August 20, by facing Scotland in Sunderland a week on Friday and the Netherlands in Utrecht four days later to open their campaign in the new competition.

The Arsenal players in her squad – forward Alessia Russo and defender Lotte Wubben-Moy – took part in Champions League qualifying matches last Wednesday and Saturday.

Wiegman, whose players started their pre-World Cup preparation camp on June 19, told a press conference on Wednesday when asked if she was concerned about the calendar and time off: “Yes, I am very worried.

“I was worried before the World Cup, and we knew this was a very short turnaround.

“It’s a bigger thing – we’re all talking about the calendar and we really have to get connected with FIFA, UEFA, the federations, and we have to make that better.

“Of course the game is growing, which is really good. But it has to grow together and players need some rest too.

“Next week they come in and some players only had six days off, which after such a high-level, high-pressure competition is not good for them. And that has been going on for a long time, because we have major tournaments in the summer all the time. So the urgency to solve it and make it better is really, really high.

“The players will come in and we first have to see how they are physically, and we have to get them fresh, and do everything to do that. That’s going to be a challenge.

“Of course you have the team and you want to perform at the highest level, and also you want players to be fresh. For me and my staff it’s balancing (the) two – is this player fit enough, fresh enough, to play the game? That’s balancing, it’s so intense, and players are not robots.”

She added: “I’ve talked to coaches. I think everyone’s aware that we have to speak with each other and we can do a little better, and we all know it’s pretty complex.

“But I think conversations are going on, and we just need to keep doing that and hopefully find better solutions than we had.”

John Dalziel has no doubt about Scotland’s ability to bounce back from their opening-weekend setback against South Africa and set up a potential qualification decider with Ireland in Paris.

The Scots suffered a demoralising start to their World Cup campaign when they produced a disappointing performance in an 18-3 loss to the Springboks in Marseille.

Dalziel knew starting off against the world champions was always going to be a tough assignment so does not expect their chastening outing to affect the players’ mindset going into their remaining three Pool B games against Tonga, Romania and Ireland.

The squad have had the last few days off with their families and the forwards coach is confident they will all be able to get their “heads straight” in time for their next match against Tonga in Nice a week on Sunday.

“We’ve been in this position a couple of times where we’ve been disappointed with performances,” Dalziel told the PA news agency.

“It’s not the end of the world for us, but we need to get our heads straight for the next game against Tonga because we’ve got to get that game right.

“We spoke a lot about how difficult this group would be. We know we could have gone out on Sunday and played some of our best rugby and still lost the game so it was always going to be important how we go on from here.

“The difference was we didn’t play our best rugby on Sunday, but the positive is that we’ve got three other games to try and rebuild it and find another route out of the group.

“We will take it game by game, but we want to arrive in Paris for that last game with an opportunity knowing that if we win we can progress.”

Dalziel admitted “it didn’t feel like us” on Sunday as Scotland failed to score a try for the first time since autumn 2020 and posted their lowest points return since losing 27-3 to Ireland in the opening match of the 2019 World Cup.

“I was disappointed with the lack of accuracy at times, but even with the inaccuracy in the first half, we put ourselves in a good position with that big set before half-time to come in at 6-3 (down),” he said.

“It was a really positive changing room because of how poor we had been and the fact we were still in the game against the world champions.

“But we just never got into our stride, it didn’t feel like us. It wasn’t the end in any way, though, just a disappointing start. And we’ve got to do it the hard way, as always.”

Dalziel believes that, if Scotland are able to execute their attacking game, they will have a good chance of getting up and running against Tonga next weekend.

“Tonga will bring physicality up front, they’ll want to stop us playing, but we can find opportunities around that in terms of what we do,” he said.

“We just want to look at having a good performance. The performance is the focus, not the outcome. If we get our performance right, we’ll have a great chance of winning that game.”

Keira Walsh is missing from England’s first squad since the Women’s World Cup due to injury.

As well as midfielder Walsh, forward Bethany England also drops out, ruled out after undergoing hip surgery last week.

There is no recall at this stage for Beth Mead despite her returning to Arsenal’s matchday squad as an unused substitute in their Champions League qualifying games last week.

And the same applies to Fran Kirby, who has been involved in pre-season with Chelsea – both sat out the World Cup because of injury.

Sarina Wiegman’s 24-player selection sees Maya Le Tissier, Lucy Staniforth and Jess Park brought back into the fold.

Le Tissier and Staniforth were on the standby list ahead of the summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the latter replacing Park, who withdrew because of a shoulder issue.

Wiegman’s World Cup runners-up play Scotland at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light a week on Friday and the Netherlands in Utrecht four days later in the new women’s Nations League.

Wiegman said: “By the time we play our first game, it will be little more than a month since the World Cup final. We have had little time to reflect on all we have achieved so far this year.

“Instead, we will have to make sure the players are fresh enough and ready to perform straight away, if we want to go far in another competition.

“We will play a derby match against Scotland and they have shown good development recently and are getting stronger and stronger, while we know all about the Netherlands of course, and the very talented players they have.

“It is the first time we have had the Nations League in the women’s game, and it will mean even more competitive matches for us to test ourselves.

“While the time to look back on a special period for us will come at the end of the year, it will be good to see the fans again in Sunderland. We have a great connection with the north east and I know they will give us tremendous support again.”

Gareth Southgate was delighted with his players’ commitment, togetherness and mentality over the last week as England continue to build towards their goal of winning Euro 2024.

Having reached the final of the last edition and impressed in December’s World Cup quarter-final exit to France, the focus is on finally getting their hands on silverware in Germany next summer.

Winning their first four Group C matches means it has long been a case of when rather than if England seal their place at the finals, but Saturday’s drab 1-1 qualification draw against Ukraine brought criticism.

Southgate’s side bounced back with a slick 3-1 friendly win over old foes Scotland at Hampden Park on Tuesday, bringing a successful camp came to a victorious end.

“We’re building all the time,” the England manager said. “We want to keep improving, we keep pushing the players.

“We’ve been able to experiment a bit this week as well. Two new centre-backs (Marc Guehi and Lewis Dunk) have come in, relatively inexperienced, and both done really well.

“But some of our senior players are so influential – (Kyle) Walker and (Kieran) Trippier were absolutely outstanding (against Scotland).

“The impact of our senior players on this group just can’t be underestimated.

“Of course, a lot of the headlines will go to some of our younger players and understandably so, but the way that the group form and the way they are as a team is key to getting the types of performance we have (last night).”

Southgate’s team are among the favourites to win next summer’s Euros and former international Joe Cole called this side the best England team he has seen his lifetime.

“Everybody else can assess that,” the manager said when that was put to him after their impressive Hampden Park triumph.

“I think we want to keep pushing the players.

“I was really pleased with the week. If you’d said to me before the game, ‘How’s the week been?’ I’d have said, ‘Excellent’.

“The players have been fully committed, encouraged each other, trained really well, responded well to a disappointing performance but a really important and good result in Ukraine.

“We wanted the sort of mentality that we showed, and they produced that. They were absolutely excellent (at Hampden).”

It was an impressive team effort with Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham at its heart in Mount Florida.

The 20-year-old played a role in Phil Foden’s opener and three minutes later fired home his second international goal.

Bellingham did not stop there as he capped a man-of-the-match display with a fine assist for Harry Kane after Harry Maguire’s own goal temporarily gave Hampden hope.

“Well, he was excellent,” Southgate said of the young midfielder. “We thought that position might cause a problem.

“I mean, we knew we needed athleticism there to press Scotland because their midfield players can dictate games if you allow them, so that was that was key.

“But we knew the way we played the system might create a bit of an overload and his powerful running forwards with Marcus (Rashford) as well, in particular when Harry was dropping low and Phil was dropping low, that gave us a real outlet.

“So, it was a nice balance to the team with Kalvin (Phillips) and Dec (Rice) doing a brilliant job of mopping up, destroying things and keeping the ball ticking over well.”

Players now return to club matters before convening next month for a Wembley friendly against Australia and qualifier under the arch against Euro 2020 winners Italy.

The Group C leaders’ advantage at the top could be cut to three points by the time they host the Azzurri, but bookmakers’ odds of 1-250 on England to qualify for Euro 2024 highlights their position of strength.

Scotland are also on the cusp of qualification having won their first five qualifiers.

Steve Clarke’s men would have even qualified on Tuesday had Norway and Georgia drawn, but instead the wait continues as they head to second-placed Spain next month looking respond to a deflating loss to the Auld Enemy.

Put to Southgate that there appears to be a big gap between England and Scotland, he said: “No, I just think, look, we played exceptionally well.

“We were able to nullify a lot of the threats that Scotland pose, so it was a really good performance from us.

“I think Scottish fans should be really proud of how their team are going and the job Steve’s doing.

“I’m sure there’ll be a huge reaction to the result, but we’ve just said that for three days and I’m sure Steve’s sensible enough to keep calm about that.

“We played well, we’ve won the game, but on another night that can look very different.”

Aaron Ramsdale praised Harry Maguire for his continued “outstanding” England displays as the under-fire defender blocks out unrelenting criticism and scrutiny.

The world’s most expensive defender was named in the Euros team of the tournament in 2021, but game time and form at Manchester United have dropped off since then.

Gareth Southgate has stuck by Maguire and brought him on at half-time in Tuesday’s 3-1 friendly win over Scotland, during which he was mocked mercilessly by the Hampden Park crowd before scoring an own goal.

Furious Southgate believes the reaction was as a result of wider “ridiculous” criticism of the defender, which he called “a joke” and said was “beyond anything I’ve ever seen”.

England fans backed Maguire and chanted his name in Glasgow, with team-mates like goalkeeper Ramsdale also offering support to the oft-criticised centre-back.

“Harry Maguire has had criticism for the past 18 months, two years,” he said. “It hasn’t affected him.

“His performances for England have been nigh on outstanding, that’s why he keeps getting picked and played. Simple as that.

“I don’t think a few whistles and groans from the fans are going to change his mindset.

“He had 45 minutes in a game where I thought he played well, kept the ball for us and one unfortunate own goal, if you want to call it that, and people are going to start talking about him and I don’t think it’s needed.”

Ramsdale said Maguire was “superb when he came on” and had no issues with his “really unfortunate” own goal.

“People will say he’s come on and scored an own goal, but if he has any doubt in his mind, I want my defender to try to clear it,” the Arsenal goalkeeper said.

“It’s a cross-shot, he’s tried to deal with it and eight times out of 10 it goes behind for a corner or he clears it.

“Every time he touched the ball the crowd got up and made noises and he dealt with it extremely well, played some lovely passes.

“I thought he accompanied Lewis (Dunk) and rest of the back four really well. Yeah, I’d want him to do that again 10 times over.”

Ramsdale won just his fourth England cap on Tuesday evening and was grateful for Maguire then, just as he has been since making his debut behind him in November 2021.

“He talks you through the game,” he said. “I remember that from my first cap.

“It was San Marino and obviously we won 10-0, but he talked me through the whole game, calmed me down at times and he did the same (against Scotland).

“So, it’s a real dream to play with him and, as I said, it’s just an unfortunate goal that people are going to highlight and it doesn’t need to be that way.”

But Ramsdale knows that everything is pored over in minute detail with England, whether it is Maguire’s selection, Phil Foden’s role or Southgate’s approach.

The team may also be under the microscope, but Ramsdale says that has helped to cultivate a special mentality within the group.

“You’re playing for England,” he said. “It’s the most scrutinised team in the world, I personally think.

“We’ve got so many good players, a pool of players, and everyone will have a different opinion on who should be playing and who shouldn’t be playing.

“I think that’s what makes us so strong as a group, the fact that we can brush things off and use the noise as outside noise and listen to ourselves.”

Put to Ramsdale that is easier said than done, he said: “Exactly, but two years ago we were playing in a European final and then we went to the World Cup and could have done a bit better in different circumstances and played against a good team in France.

“We’re so close to qualifying again and this group has been together so long and we’ve got such a great connection.

“Like you said, it’s easier said than done, but it’s one of the top qualities this group has, that it sticks together and block out any noise that we don’t want to hear.”

Scotland host England in the 116th edition of international football’s oldest fixture on Tuesday.

Ahead of the old foes going toe-to-toe at Hampden Park, the PA news agency picks out some of the talking points.

History in the making

The game has been billed as the 150th Anniversary Heritage Match, to commemorate the advent of international football on November 30, 1872. At the West of Scotland Cricket Ground in Partick, a Scotland team exclusively made up of Queen’s Park players drew 0-0 with England, whose biggest contingent came from Oxford University. Other clubs represented were Notts County, Sheffield Wednesday, Cambridge University, the 1st Surrey Rifles and the now defunct Hertfordshire Rangers, Barnes and Harrow Chequers. Scotland’s passing game and the English tactic of running with the ball cancelled each other out in front of several thousand supporters.

Scotland bid to close the gap

England only lead 48-41 in the 116 meetings between the nations but Scottish wins, as well as the encounters themselves, have become scarcer in recent years. Scotland’s last home win came in the 1985 Rous Cup when Richard Gough headed the only goal, and their most recent victory was a bitter-sweet victory in 1999 when Don Hutchison headed a Wembley winner but England went through to Euro 2000 with a 2-1 play-off aggregate win. England have not lost in the past five meetings but the most recent two games were draws.

Attention elsewhere for Scotland fans

For probably the first time in the century-and-a-half of the fixture, many Scotland fans will be more concerned with a result elsewhere than what happens at Hampden. Scotland will become the first team to qualify for Euro 2024 if Norway and Georgia draw in Oslo. While the Scotland players will be focused on the task at hand, there might be some roars and celebrations from the home fans regardless of the situation in front of them.

Southgate balances progress with performance

England head to Hampden Park on the back of a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Ukraine in front of a partisan crowd in Poland. Gareth Southgate called it a good test in a hostile environment, just as he expects in Mount Florida on Tuesday night. This is England’s first friendly match since March 2022, after a run of 16 competitive matches taking in last year’s Nations League and World Cup before Euro 2024 qualification got under way. But do not expect too many changes as Southgate says it would be “ridiculous” to overly experiment against high-flying Scotland. “We’ve got to find the right balance of physical freshness – we’ve had a day less preparation – experience, finding out about some players, winning, playing well,” he said.

Southgate to give Colwill debut?

England’s development under Southgate has been impressive since he took charge in challenging circumstances in 2016, but there are plenty of questions to answer as next summer’s Euros come into view. Key among them is what to do at centre-back, given trusted lieutenant Harry Maguire’s lack of form and game time at Manchester United. Saturday’s match against Ukraine was his first start for club or country of the season, with Southgate seeing his experience as vital alongside Marc Guehi given John Stones and Tyrone Mings are out injured. Fikayo Tomori and Lewis Dunk are other centre-back options in the squad if Southgate wants to change things up against Scotland, as is uncapped Levi Colwill. The 20-year-old flourished on loan at Brighton and impressed since getting his chance at Chelsea this term. This would be a big occasion to make his debut but a great test for a player some have tipped to be a starter come Germany.

Gareth Southgate says Harvey Barnes is a player England “like a lot” and Kieran Trippier praised Elliot Anderson’s potential amid talk of a possible tug-of-war with Scotland for the Newcastle duo.

There is an increasing number of players that have been part of the English set-up that have gone on to represent another country, including Jamal Musiala and Wilfried Zaha.

Angus Gunn was called up to the England senior squad by Southgate before switching allegiance to Tuesday’s opponents Scotland, who are now reportedly targeting Barnes.

The 25-year-old has yet to add to the solitary senior England cap he won in 2020 but remains on the manager’s radar, as does Newcastle team-mate Anderson.

The Whitley Bay-born 20-year-old spent two days with Scotland last week before withdrawing from the squad due to injury.

“Both are very good players,” England boss Southgate said of the Newcastle pair in the bowels of Hampden Park ahead of Tuesday’s friendly.

“In terms of Harvey, he’s obviously a player who has played for us. We have a lot of competition in that area of the pitch so he is a player we are always monitoring and he’s a player we like a lot.

“With Elliot, I think he’s a player who has progressed really well. We’ve previously spoken with him, but of course he was named in the squad here so assumed that was that.

“I thought he had an excellent pre-season with Newcastle as well.

“You could see that evolution that he has got as a young player and the potential he has got. I know at Newcastle they rate him very highly.

“I don’t know the answer to the ultimate question for either player, but there are going to be more and more of these sorts of situations.

“There are so many players with dual or triple nationality now.

“It is very complicated for every country and sometimes you can’t offer the player something as quickly as they like.

“We have benefited from it and we have lost players because of it and I think that is always going to be the case, really.”

The pair’s club team-mate was sat alongside Southgate in Glasgow, with right-back Trippier full of praise for homegrown Newcastle talent Anderson.

“As the gaffer said before, in pre-season he’s been unbelievable,” Trippier said of a player who has represented both nations at youth level.

“I think it was good for him last year to stay with us and not go out on loan again, to gain that experience.

“He’s a young lad with great potential. Obviously we’ve had talks but, like Gareth said before, he went away with Scotland.

“Ultimately that’s his decision. He’s a young lad with great potential so that decision is ultimately up to him.”

Gareth Southgate says it would be “ridiculous” to overly experiment as England head to hostile Hampden Park to face in-form foes Scotland in a so-called friendly.

Both sides are on the cusp of qualification for next summer’s European Championship as they meet on Tuesday evening for the 116th edition of the world’s oldest international fixture.

Southgate sees England’s first friendly fixture since March 2022 as an important test and learning step for his side, fresh from Saturday’s challenging 1-1 draw against Ukraine.

Scotland have won their last five matches and will be roared on by a sold-out Hampden Park crowd on Tuesday, when the 53-year-old knows he has to get the balance right with his selection.

“We’ve got to find the right balance of physical freshness – we’ve had a day less preparation – experience, finding out about some players, winning, playing well,” Southgate said.

“So, the usual things that are expected of us with England, really.

“But I think the first thing is we can’t fiddle around with the team because we’re playing a top-level side, who are going to be at full tilt and giving us a really high-level challenge.

“So, you can’t overly experiment because that would be ridiculous.”

Southgate largely stuck with the tried and tested with his squad selection for this September double-header, leading to starts for Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson against Ukraine.

It was the former’s first competitive start of the season and the first time the latter had represented his country since swapping Liverpool for Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq.

Southgate was criticised by some for selecting the pair against Ukraine, while a disjointed, toothless performance hardly set pulses racing.

“I haven’t seen it, so the reaction for us is, we’re top of the group,” said the England boss, who could hand Levi Colwill and Eddie Nketiah their debuts in Glasgow.

“I think we’re the top scorers in Europe. The boys did a really good job in a difficult environment and we know that our attacking play didn’t quite click.

“I think some of that was the surface, really, because to make those really incisive, quick passes at times you just needed a little extra touch or there was a little bobble.

“I’m very conscious I wasn’t going to be too harsh on my internal review with the players.

“Because you could see moments when we’re watching it back where the ball pops over players’ feet or (someone) goes to play a ball first time, and it lofts in the air.

“Equally, that wasn’t the case with everything that we did, so we’re always challenging. We want to be better and better and we’ve got to set a high standard.

“We weren’t as happy coming away with the point as we might have been but it’s still a really good result.

“We saw what happened in our group later that night (with Italy drawing 1-1 with North Macedonia).

“When we beat North Macedonia people were questioning the quality that they had and the standard of the opposition, but Italy went there and couldn’t get the win.

“So, we kind of know the cycle, frankly, with England. I’ve been in the job long enough now.

“It’s constant, it’s never-ending, but we have to really focus internally on what’s important for us.

“Review to our own standards, review and make sure that we know what we’re working towards, and what we’re comparing ourselves against, really.”

Southgate believes the trip to Glasgow will help in that on a night when England and Scotland will commemorate the 150th anniversary of their first meeting on November 30, 1872.

The former defender admitted he was briefly a member of the Tartan Army in his childhood.

“I mean, this is horrendous what I’m going to say here ahead of tomorrow, but I was supporting Scotland in 1978 because obviously we hadn’t qualified,” the England boss said.

“I kind of followed that through the trauma of Peru and the Netherlands.

“Then we were back in ’82 and all of a sudden, you know, for me then onwards it was all about England.

“But, yeah, great fixtures. I’ve met so many of the former players over the years – worked with some of them, played with some of them.

“It’s a fabulous game. I know there’s a rivalry and I know people will be wary of it crossing a boundary, but it’s a brilliant sporting rivalry and it’s a great game to be involved in.”

Scotland manager Steve Clarke will take stock of his attempts to bring aboard Newcastle pair Elliot Anderson and Harvey Barnes after Tuesday’s Hampden friendly against England.

Whitley Bay-born Anderson, who has a Scottish grandmother, spent two days with Scotland last week before withdrawing from the squad before their trip to Cyprus due to injury.

England manager Gareth Southgate has since expressed admiration for the Newcastle midfielder and stated his backroom team would be taking the situation up.

The 20-year-old has been capped at several levels for Scotland but has also attended an England Under-19 training camp.

Clarke said: “We like the player as well so Elliot will still have that choice to make.

“When I come out of this camp I will look at what we have done, what we have had, what’s occurred over this camp, we will do a debrief on it and then we will shape what we do from there.”

Former Leicester winger Barnes is reported to be considering a switch of allegiance after playing once for England in a friendly win over Wales three years ago.

The 25-year-old was born in Burnley and brought up in Leicestershire but has Scottish grandparents.

When asked about Barnes, Clarke said: “Probably the same comment, to think about that after.

“We want the best players we can possibly get. If they are eligible for Scotland and they have a chance to play for us and they can improve the squad that I’ve got – which is not an easy thing to do…

“And I get all the story round it, because we are playing England you want to speak about Elliot, you want to speak about Harvey.

“I quite like speaking about the boys I have got because they have put us in a really good position and they deserve a lot of credit for that.”

Frustrated Finn Russell hopes a two-week break between matches will allow Scotland to regroup and get Sunday’s demoralising World Cup opener against South Africa out of their system.

The Scots were unable to spark their swashbuckling attacking game as they crashed 18-3 to the Springboks in Marseille, losing the second half 12-0.

It was Gregor Townsend’s side’s lowest-scoring outing since their first game of the 2019 World Cup when they were defeated 27-3 by Ireland.

Talisman Russell said: “I’m very frustrated with the result but also with the second-half. I don’t think we showed a true reflection of the team that we are. It’s very frustrating.”

The Scots do not play again until they face Tonga in Nice on Sunday, 24 September.

When they return to action, they know they must win all three of their remaining games – the other two are against Romania and Ireland – if they are to have a chance of emerging from the formidable Pool B to reach the quarter finals.

“This was potentially the situation we were going to be in after the first game,” said Russell. “Ideally it wouldn’t have been, but now we’re in this situation we need to pick ourselves back up, we need to get going.

“We’ve got Tonga then Romania so we need to go into these games as best prepared as we can and looking to play as best we can.

“We had a 10-minute period where we let South Africa get two tries so we’ll chat about how we can get better after that second half and coming out firing straight away (after half-time) so that doesn’t happen again.

“As frustrated as we are, there is a lot to work on and still everything to play for.”

The Scotland players have been given time off with their families in the early part of this week to recover from the mental and physical demands of facing the world champions in their first game.

Russell, competing at his third World Cup, has vowed that they will come back ready for their must-win game against Tonga.

“We’ve got two weeks now so we’ll have the next few days just getting away from rugby,” said the 30-year-old. “That was very physically demanding and mentally as well.

“The next few days we’ll get away from rugby, refresh ourselves and come back on Thursday and start preparing for Tonga. That’s a massive game for us.

“We’ve got everything to play for now and to an extent nothing to lose. As tough as it is to take, in sport you have to bounce back as quick as you can and I think the boys will do that.”

Stand-off Russell was in the wars on Sunday and it looked like he may be forced off in the first half after a heavy collision left him grounded and receiving lengthy treatment.

“I’m alright,” he said. “I got a shot in the ribs and I think I was just pretty badly winded thankfully.

“The second one was a stinger which happens in rugby. These collisions happen and that’s part of it. Thankfully there’s nothing that bad.

“I’ll be good to go the next game.”

Gregor Townsend lamented Scotland’s inability to lay a glove on South Africa after a deflating 18-3 defeat in their World Cup opener in Marseille.

The Scots went into the match with genuine belief that they could get the better of the world champions, but they struggled to get their much-vaunted attack going.

The Springboks led 6-3 at the break and then pulled away with tries from Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kurt-Lee Arendse in the the third quarter, and Townsend’s team were unable to summon a response.

It was the first time since losing to Ireland at the 2019 World Cup that the Scots – renowned for their potency – had scored as few as three points.

“I’m really disappointed,” said Townsend. “We were slow to get going in the first half. There was a bit of inaccuracy in our play, but then we built into the game and I felt physically we were more than up for the challenge that South Africa bring.

“We started to win penalties at scrum-time, which was a real bonus. There were opportunities but not many in our attacking game, but there were a couple in the first half. We spoke at half-time about the need to build on the way we finished that second quarter.

“But we started with a bit of inaccuracy and then South Africa dominated possession for a period and put on points, and it then became difficult in those conditions. The defence had to play from deep and it became risky, and we never had the accuracy to trouble them on the scoreboard.”

Townsend was frustrated that the TMO did not intervene after Boks centre Jesse Kriel appeared to clash head-on-head with Scotland back-rower Jack Dempsey in the first minute. Replays indicated it could have been a red card.

“I saw it from two screens away and it did look like it was a head-on-head collision and I was expecting the TMO to come in to make the referee aware of that,” said Townsend.

“Who knows (if it could have been a game-changer)? There was a red card (for England against Argentina) on Saturday and it didn’t help or change the game much in terms of Argentina’s favour so who knows?

“There are still inconsistencies in seeing these things so we are obviously frustrated by that, but we are more frustrated by our own performance.”

Scotland must now win all three of their remaining matches against Tonga, Romania and Ireland to have a chance of getting through to the knock-out phase and Townsend admits they must tighten up their game if they are to do that.

“Accuracy in attack (needs to improve) and in defence we would be relatively satisfied with the effort which went in but I still think there is more in us with that,” he said.

“Our attack in general starts from our set-piece, winning possession and what we did when we had that possession has got to improve. We only scored three points and that is unusual for us.”

Stand-off Finn Russell received treatment after taking a bang to his midriff late in the first half, but he soldiered on for the remainder of the match.

“It looked like he was coming off initially,” said Townsend. “He had a rib injury which seemed like it was going to stop him from continuing, but he dug deep and fought really hard.

“I thought some of his defensive work in the second half was outstanding and it shows how much he cares for his team-mates and playing for Scotland.”

Scotland suffered a demoralising start to their World Cup campaign as world champions South Africa squeezed the life out of them in Marseille.

The Boks kicked off their defence of the Webb Ellis Cup with an 18-3 victory on Sunday evening after two tries from Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kurt-Lee Arendse in the third quarter took the game away from the Scots following a tightly-contested first half.

The defeat leaves Gregor Townsend’s side with no margin for error in their remaining three matches against Tonga, Romania and Ireland if they are to qualify for the quarter-finals.

The two sides went into the tournament in confident mood following encouraging summer campaigns which left the Boks ranked second and the Scots fifth in the world, but with Ireland – the top-ranked team – also in Pool B, the pressure was on both nations to start with a victory.

The Springboks started in more assured fashion and had a chance to get the scoreboard up and running in the 11th minute when the Scots were deemed to have collapsed the scrum, but Manie Libbok hooked his penalty wide from 40 metres.

The South African stand-off made no such mistake, however, when presented with another opportunity two minutes later after Finn Russell was penalised for a deliberate knock-on as he sent his kick soaring between the posts from a central position 35 metres out.

Tempers flared on the side of the pitch just after the midway point in the first half after Damian de Allende was slammed into touch but referee Angus Gardner – after reviewing the skirmish – spoke to four players, but decided no further action was required.

Libbok doubled the Boks’ lead to six points shortly afterwards with another penalty after Sione Tuipulotu failed to release.

After South Africa lock Eben Etzebeth limped off to be replaced by RG Snyman, Scotland, who had been struggling to get their attacking game going, carved out a brilliant chance to score, but Darcy Graham opted to go himself and ran into trouble when fellow wing Duhan van der Merwe, on his outside, was crying out for a pass and appeared to have a free run to the line.

Despite being unable to impose their game on the Boks, the Scots were generally standing up well to the physical challenge of their opponents and they cut their deficit to three points in the last action of the first half when Finn Russell – who had earlier needed treatment following a bang to the ribs – kicked a penalty from 45 metres right on half-time.

Two minutes after the restart Libbok attempted to kick a penalty from almost five metres inside his own half, but he failed to get enough distance on it and the Scots were able to gather.

South Africa got their first try of the match in the 47th minute when Du Toit pushed over on the left after a sustained spell of pressure. Libbok was off target with his conversion attempt.

Thing got worse for the Scots four minutes later when Arendse ran in to touch down in the right corner after a lovely cross-field kick from Libbok set him free. With the stand-off having missed three of his five attempts at goal, scrum-half Faf De Klerk took over kicking duties and duly pinged the conversion between the posts.

Scotland have made a habit in recent times of mounting impressive fightbacks, but this time they were unable to find a way of breaching the obdurate Boks.

Kyle Walker is relishing England’s so-called friendly against Scotland after the long-serving right-back scored a goal he will remember for the rest of his life.

The 33-year-old made his senior debut in a friendly against Spain in November 2011 and has gone on to feature in four major tournament squads for his country.

But for all of Walker’s work it was not until Saturday evening in Poland that the Manchester City right-back was able to celebrate scoring an international goal on his 77th appearance.

The full-back raced behind and met a fantastic Harry Kane pass with a similarly impressive touch, before coolly cancelling out Ukraine captain Oleksandr Zinchenko’s opener in Wroclaw.

“Obviously to have 76 caps and not score a goal, it was playing on my mind a little bit,” Walker said after the 1-1 draw in Euro 2024 qualification.

“Just a lot of people were saying ‘you’ve played all these times’ and Harry Kane has been giving me a bit of banter, saying he’ll give me a penalty before I finish.

“But, listen, to get the goal, to help the team at the other end of the field was good.

“You know H likes to play them balls in behind and I just made the run.

“We do that at City where once the ball goes back, you make the in behind run.

“Harry’s made a great ball and picked me out. I think the touch has set it up because I’d probably have been looking to square it someone (otherwise).

“The touch felt good and it was a goal that I’ll remember definitely for the rest of my life.”

England were below par in Poland but it remains a case of when rather than if they wrap up qualification for next summer’s Euros.

Preparations for Germany continue with a first friendly game in 18 months on Tuesday evening, albeit the trip to old foes Scotland at Hampden Park is sure to have some bite to it.

Asked if there can ever be a friendly against Scotland, Walker told Sky Sports: “No, definitely not.

“I love playing in them games, especially just with everything behind it, with what they bring, their crowd and everything like that.

“Hopefully we can go there and have a good performance.

“They’ve had some good recent results so it’s going to be a tough game.

“The last time we went there we managed to scrape a draw in the last couple of minutes with Harry.

“So hopefully we can go there, put a good performance on, but it’s never going to be a friendly.”

Kane’s stoppage-time goal secured a 2-2 draw on England’s last trip to Scotland in 2017.

Walker was still a Tottenham team-mate of the striker at that point and it was widely reported this summer that the pair could have linked back up at Bayern Munich.

Kane moved to the Bundesliga but the 33-year-old has stayed with treble winners City, where his current deal expires at the end of the season.

“I have an obligation to fulfil my contract,” Walker said. “Obviously things haven’t gone for whatever way. Whichever way you want to look at it, it’s not happened.

“But I’m a Manchester City player. I want to stay at this club for as long as possible.

“But I need to do what’s right for me personally first and that’s stay at the top for as long as possible because there’s a lot of ex-players who’ve told me once you starting coming down it is difficult.

“So, if I can fulfil this season and many more hopefully at Manchester City that would be fantastic.”

Gareth Southgate is looking forward to another really good test and “important learning step” as England head to Scotland for their first friendly in 18 months.

The Euro 2020 runners-up are among the favourites to win next year’s finals in Germany, which they are within touching distance of despite Saturday’s 1-1 qualification draw against Ukraine.

Long-serving Kyle Walker’s first-ever England goal cancelled out Oleksandr Zinchenko’s opener in front of a yellow and blue wall at the rocking Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland.

It felt like a home game despite Ukraine being forced to play away from their homeland due to Russia’s ongoing invasion, leaving Southgate to reflect on an important point and valuable learning experience.

The 53-year-old is expecting a similar test when they face in-form Scotland at Hampden Park on Tuesday evening in England’s first friendly since beating the Ivory Coast at Wembley in March 2022.

“We can have everybody in the squad involved for the next one,” Southgate said after 16 successive competitive matches, covering last year’s Nations League campaign, the 2022 World Cup and this qualifying campaign.

“We’ll assess everybody over there over the next 24 to 48 hours because it’s another really good test.

“Another hostile environment, a team that are playing really well.

“You know, they’re in great form, full of confidence so it’s another important learning step for us.” The nations last faced one another in June 2021, when they played out a hard-fought 0-0 draw at Wembley in the European Championship group stage.

Scotland, like England, are on the cusp of qualification for next summer’s Euros, with Friday’s 3-0 triumph in Cyprus extending their outstanding winning start in Group A to a fifth match.

Southgate’s side do not head into the friendly on the same high having failed to click against Ukraine, after which James Maddison said it was important to dig in and take a point if the attack is not firing.

“James would be one that won’t have played in an England game like that in the past,” the England manager said. “Marc (Guehi), Chilly [Ben Chilwell] wouldn’t have played a huge number of those games for us either.

“So, the only way to learn and grow as a team is to have those sorts of experiences. “To go behind in a game like that is a challenge, but we stayed calm.

“I’m not so sure it was a case of digging in because I think we were in control of the game. “But we had to defend some counter-attack moments and a couple of set plays well.

“And, yeah, without a doubt, to go through that sort of experience is good learning for several of the players.

“I think on a night like this the experienced players were really important for the team and I thought they all did a very, very good job.”

Southgate rued too many turnovers and a lack of attacking fluency on Saturday night, when skipper Harry Kane took it upon himself to spark England into life.

Ukraine stood off the striker and watched him fire an exceptional diagonal ball from just outside the centre circle over Vitaliy Mykolenko to put in Walker to score.

“In the end, it was difficult for all of the forward players to find space between Ukraine’s midfield and defence,” Southgate said. “I thought they did that as a team very well.

“I thought occasionally we were coming too deep outside of the block, but when you do that, if you’ve got players with that range of passing, then it’s an alternative way of breaking them down.

“The important thing was as he was dropping, Kyle making the run he did.

“He’s got outstanding vision but also technical quality to make those passes.”

The Royal Marines told England boss Gareth Southgate that Harry Kane would make the perfect captain, the striker has revealed.

The Bayern Munich player heads back to Scotland for a friendly at Hampden Park, where he first skippered the national team, on Tuesday.

Six years ago Southgate took his squad for a surprise weekend at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines in Devon.

They camped, hiked and were dunked in the feared sheep dip as the Marines tested their physical and mental strength during a boding exercise which helped Southgate decide his skipper.

A few days later, Kane was handed the armband and scored a last-gasp leveller in the 2-2 draw in Glasgow.

“I remember that trip very clearly,” he said. “We had a fantastic time and I think Gareth did use that to see who stood out in terms of leadership.

“Leadership comes in many ways. It isn’t just the guy in the front shooting the paintball. Maybe the way I got on with the Marines and the way I handled certain situations.

“I know that Gareth asked some of the Marines afterwards who they thought were natural leaders, who were approachable and who other players were leaning towards to talk to. Things like that.

“I think that might have helped in me becoming captain. It was a fantastic few days. Some great memories that will be with me forever.

“It helped the whole squad get to know each other. We had no phones for three days, we were camping in the woods. That helped us, not just as a team. It helped us become closer.

“We did a camping thing where we learned to put up our own tents and had the rations the Marine guys have when they’re going to war.

“We woke up at sunrise and did a trek with all the stuff on our backs. Then we did an obstacle course. That was fun, although I think they left out some of the tougher parts.

“We had to follow the Marines. Whenever they shouted ‘down’ we had to crawl in the mud, though stones and the sheep dip.

“So we were all soaking wet, with sand and mud everywhere, and we thought we were going to get in a car and go back to camp, until they told us we were walking back – which was another hour on the road. That was probably the hardest part, it was mentally tough.

“Then we got back to the place we were staying. I was looking forward to a nice, hot shower and it was just a bit of water dripping out. It was just brutal.”

Kane returns to Hampden as England’s record-breaking skipper with 58 goals in 84 caps.

Back in 2017, Kane scored just his sixth international goal with a close-range volley from Raheem Sterling’s inch-perfect pass and remembers the World Cup qualifying draw well.

“First of all I was extremely proud to be leading the boys out and I thought it was an amazing atmosphere, even from the national anthems,” said the 30-year-old.

“The noise at Hampden Park is still one of the best atmosphere’s I’ve been a part of. The game was OK. We got ahead and then they quickly turned it around with two great free-kicks and then you’re thinking about being an Englishman losing to Scotland.

“That isn’t the most ideal situation – especially when it’s your first game as captain, so it was nice to score in the last minute.

“To be honest, I don’t think I realised how important the goal was until after the game, then I heard all the talk around it. For me, not to lose my first game as captain was important and it’s a nice memory.”

Kane has linked up with England for the first time since his £100million move from Tottenham to Bayern.

He has scored three goals in his first three starts and slotted into life in Germany, including a club photoshoot while dressed in Lederhosen and posing with fake beer.

He said: “It was alright actually. The shorts were a bit heavier than I thought. It wasn’t even real beer – it was just to look good.

“We have a day when all the players and staff go to Oktoberfest. I don’t know when that will be, but I’ve heard it’s really good.”