Interim manager Gareth Southgate says England remain on course to qualify for the 2018 World Cup although he admits the national side are still in somewhat of a mess right now.

It has been a terrible few months for England, with the defeat to Iceland in the last-16 stage of Euro 2016 starting off a catalogue of embarrassing events.

The early exit from the summer tournament spelled the end for Roy Hodgson, who resigned immediately after the match, and Sam Allardyce was named as his replacement.

Sunderland’s former coach picked up a 1-0 win against Slovakia in the opening 2018 World Cup qualifier but that would be his only game in charge after being sacked following his involvement in a discussion involving third-party player ownership.

Southgate has been placed in temporary charge and managed to pick up a 2-0 win over Malta before drawing 0-0 in Slovenia on Tuesday night.

The most recent performance left a lot to be desired and the visitors were indebted to goalkeeper Joe Hart, who made a number of important saves.

The Three Lions were poor going forward and the likes of Theo Walcott, Daniel Sturridge, Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli failed to carve out any clear-cut chances.

England are struggling to click and although they remain at the top of Group F, Southgate admits he is still picking up the pieces from recent events.

“With the overall objective of qualifying, we have kept the team on track,” he said. “But we have taken over a mess really and had to steady the ship.”

England, who are 21.00 to win the 2018 World Cup in Russia, are next in action against Scotland on November 11 before taking on Spain in an international friendly four days later.