Gareth Southgate has jumped to the defence of four of his players despite branding England's 1-1 draw with Hungary 'disappointing'. The Three Lions stumbled in their quest to qualify for next year's World Cup in Qatar.
England boss Gareth Southgate defended four players (Image: GETTY)
It is a change from the 3-4-3 system that has been used for most of the past year and worked so successfully for the majority of Euro 2020.
Mason Mount and Phil Foden played just ahead of Rice. Foden was given another chance to stake a claim to become an England regular after an excellent performance against Andorra on Saturday.
“We’re going to go away and reflect on the game. We shouldn’t just judge things on one game, in terms of that sort of experiment,” was Southgate's verdict when asked by ITV about the performance of Mount and Foden.
"Right across the board we were not sharp in our play. We gave the ball away and we were overunning things.
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"We were underneath [the standard] this time but we have to hold our hands up."
Southgate also started with Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane despite the pair having struggled at club level since the start of the Premier League season.
England boss Gareth Southgate saw his side struggle against Hungary in their World Cup qualifier (Image: GETTY)
Manchester City forward Sterling has started just two league matches and has scored only one goal. The 26-year-old underwhelmed last term, too, scoring 10 times. He netted 20 in the campaign prior.
Kane has appeared distracted by rumours linking him from Tottenham to City. The Three Lions captain has failed to register a Premier League goal this season.
But, like Mount and Foden, Southgate was quick to defend two players who were key for England at Euro 2020.