Southgate admits ‘lessons’ must be learned after acknowledging England’s fate

England boss Gareth Southgate identified areas in which England must improve rapidly and revealed what he “doesn’t want to see again”.

The Three Lions started the UEFA Nations League campaign with a tepid 1-0 victory over Iceland.

Clear chances were extremely rare, and the game looked to be heading for a draw until Raheem Sterling’s late penalty.

Iceland could have escaped with a draw after taking a penalty of their own, but their penalty shot over the bar.

South Gate saying Sky sports: “It was a real mix, we started well, we were good for 20 minutes. I think the disallowed offside goal should be kept and that would have had a great influence.

“Then during the next period, we were good until the last third, but the lack of match tactics showed in our creative play.

“The expulsion was a key moment and it is very difficult to win a game when you have 10 men left. A lesson we have to learn and it was an unnecessary red card.

FULL MATCH REPORT: Walker sees red as Sterling late penalty saves England win

“We got the penalty and Raheem’s drive and desire was outstanding and then there is another lesson we have to learn. We received a penalty, we got away with it and we came out with a victory that is really important. A bit flat because it seems like we got our way.

“Kyle Walker realizes that as an experienced player, those kinds of challenges invite a referee to make that decision.

“We’ve talked a lot over the years about discipline and the amount of time we’ve spent in tournaments when that has been critical, it’s not what we want to see again.”

Sterling insists the future is bright

Match winner Pound sterling He admitted that victory was difficult to come by, but insisted that the best is yet to come from this young England team.

He said Sky sports: “It was definitely weird, but I’d rather play games than train. It was tough but we got through it.

“We knew it would be difficult. We knew we had to deeply challenge ourselves. We kept playing our soccer, we stayed compact.

“We got the penalty, we shouldn’t have conceded that sloppy penalty, but we were lucky in the end.

“We have a bright future ahead of us and we need to continue growing as a team.”