V SWEDEN, 3PM,
Spoiled kids? My boys have scrapped for every success
GARETH SOUTHGATE has hit back at the Swedish snipers by insisting England are not a “team of entitlement.”
Former Sweden international Hakan Mild claimed Southgate’s players are like “spoilt children” and have an inflated opinion of how good they are.
But ahead of today’s World Cup quarter-final, the England boss said: “I always think Sweden like to point out we’re paid this and that, and we’re the team of entitlement, when I don’t think that is the case for this group.
“It’s important we remember Steve (Holland, assistant manager) was at Crewe. I was at Palace when they weren’t quite as good as they are now.
“We’ve scrapped and fought our way. Most of our boys have played in the Championship or lower, whether they started there or played on loan there.
“They are really important messages for us. We are having success because we are really grafting for each other, we are playing some good football but we are really working without the ball.
“No passengers, nobody failing to close down, nobody strolling around. That’s the bedrock of why we are getting some decent results and we have to continue.
“I’m a football person. It’s nice within football to affect some things and the players have that opportunity as well.
“That’s because they have a voice and they have influence on young people, especially the people from the areas they came from.
“The players can give hope to them and, like I said the other day, we’re not a team where we just turn up and we’re waltzing around.
“We’re lads who have come from Barnsley and Leeds and Bolton and Blackburn. That’s so important for us in the quarter-final.” LAST NIGHT Rangers 6, Bury 0; Utrecht 2, Ross County 0; Nairn County 1, Inverness Caley Thistle 1; Queen of the South 2, Livingston 2. FOOTBALL TODAY 3pm, unless stated Rangers Res v Partick Th (12noon), Clyde v Hamilton (12.15pm), Lochee v East Fife (1pm), Clach v Inverness Caley Th XI (2pm), Brechin v Formartine (2pm), East Kilbride v Dundee XI (2pm), Alloa v Berwick, Arbroath v Huntly, Dumbarton v Hearts, Dunfermline v Tranmere, Elgin v Buckie Th, Falkirk v Airdrie, Forfar v Morton, Montrose v Cove, St Roch’s v Albion Rovers, Kelty v Cowdenbeath, Stranraer v Stirling Albion, Shamrock Rovers v Celtic, Cumbernauld Colts v Queen’s Park (4pm).