09 September 2023 , 21:13
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Gareth Southgate believes England took another giant stride in their bid for Euro glory after Kyle Walker rescued a point in Poland.
The Three Lions remain on course to qualify for next summer’s finals in Germany despite seeing their perfect Group C campaign halted by a draw against a Ukraine team driven by a desire to give their worn-torn country some comfort. Ukraine shocked the visitors when Arsenal ’s Oleksandr Zinchenko fired them into a 26th-minute lead - but Walker scored his first international goal in his 77th appearance for England to maintain their unbeaten run.
Southgate admitted his team were below par, but was delighted by their refusal to be beaten - and next up is Italy at Wembley in November. Southgate said: “It's a very important point for us and we've now played the two best ranked teams away from home and we've got four points from those two games.
“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.
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“But 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.”
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Kyle Walker earned England a point against Ukraine (Nigel Keene/ProSports/REX/Shutterstock)“I think Ukraine made it difficult to find space in midfield so credit to them. They defended in a very compact way and we turned too many balls over that we wouldn't normally do.”
England face another tough test of their resolve on Tuesday night when they face Scotland at Hampden Park in a game to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first game played between the two nations. Scotland go into the game after an impressive result of their own, winning 3-0 in Cyprus to preserve their 100 per cent qualifying record.
All of Scotland's goals came in the first half, with Scott McTominay opening the scoring before Ryan Porteous and John McGinn put the result beyond doubt. They are now all but assured of a place at the Euros next summer, with an 11-point gap to the side sitting third in their group, Norway.
After facing Scotland, England will have one friendly and one qualifier in the October international break. Both of those games will be held at Wembley, with Australia and Italy the visitors.