Gareth Southgate thanked England’s unused substitutes for the role they play in maintaining the “phenomenal” team spirit on Saturday night, following the Three Lions’ 4-0 trashing of Ukraine.
A Harry Kane stay and goals from Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson drove England into the semi-finals of Euro 2020, with the players on the pitch delivering the most convincing display of the tournament to date.
Southgate thanked players like Coady for keeping the team spirit / Michael Regan / Getty Images
But Southgate was quick to praise their stars who were not involved in the match and thanked them for creating a “phenomenal” team spirit, even after suffering the disappointment of missing the match day squad.
“The players have been fantastic and playing as well as they did in a game where there is so much rest on it was really impressive,” Southgate told BBC Sport.
“It’s a weird feeling. I’m actually thinking right now about the boys we did not get on the pitch. Because the likes of Conor Coady, Ben Chilwell, Sam Johnstone and Aaron Ramsdale are the ones who made this team successful because the spirit of the team is phenomenal.
“And whoever comes in does the job and whoever is not there – which is very difficult to have to leave three of the squad every time.
“And the squad mentality has been fantastic, so at the moment it’s a bit of the top thing in my mind to take care of these guys. I spend more energy worrying about the three I have to leave out because they are all good players. None of they deserve to be left out.
“They all give everything in training. None of that is because I do not think they are up to the level but we have to make the decisions.
Southgate was full of praise for all their players / Lars Baron / Getty Images
“We have to call right for the right game with the right system. All the players have been brilliant, tonight all the way through the group they have been fantastic.”
England are now returning to Wembley from Rome in preparation for their huge Euro 2020 semi-final clash with Denmark on Wednesday night, when they hope to book their place in the European final for the first time in the country’s history.
