Southgate claims England have evolved since World Cup disappointment

The 'Three Lions' surpassed all expectations by reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup in Russia, but lost out on a place in the final to Croatia.

While that was a difficult day for all involved in the English national team, particularly given that they were leading in the game, Southgate thinks that his squad have learned from that experience and will be able to put it behind them when they face Croatia on Sunday.

"I think we've learned with every experience that we've had." the England boss told reporters.

"We've added more depth to the squad in terms of some more young players emerging, more competition for places.

"We've had a slight change of system which has also added something different, so we've got some flexibility in how we can play.

"We've obviously played them twice in the last few months. We know their style of play, we know their preferences, the areas that they build up, we know areas that we think we can try to exploit."

"We've got to put all the things together tomorrow and make sure we back up our last few performances, which have been really healthy, and make sure we finish the calendar year - from an England perspective - on a real high."