The Three Lions failed to convince once again as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Denmark in their second group match on Thursday (20.06.24) and Southgate thinks that the weight of expectation is dragging the players down.

The England boss said: "We know the level has to be higher, we know the level can be higher.

"Maybe the biggest thing is we have to accept the environment that we're in and the expectations that are around us. We are going to have to walk towards that challenge.

"At the moment we're falling a little bit short of that. Ultimately that's my responsibility. I'm the manager and I've got to guide this group in the best way possible. To achieve extraordinary things, you have to go through some difficult moments.

"Today was a difficult moment without a doubt, towards the end of the game, especially."

England supporters vented their displeasure by booing at the final whistle and Southgate warned his players that they must take criticism.

He said: "We have to accept this is the environment we’re in. The environment of winning on the biggest possible stage.

"If we don't hit the level, if I don’t hit the level that's needed, then we have to accept what comes our way. We have to find the best way to solve that.

"Of course we need the fans, you know we need the fans, but I have to say they've been brilliant, absolutely brilliant in the stadiums.

"And I can completely understand their frustration with the way that we played, but what I would say is these boys aren’t lacking effort at the moment. It's not a case that they're not trying but we've got to find a better way of playing, we've got to find more quality in what we're doing."