Harry Maguire admits some “stern words” from boss Gareth Southgate during the half-time interval helped inspire England to a 1-0 victory over Switzerland at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday.
The Three Lions produced a lacklustre display during the first half of the international friendly and they were perhaps fortunate to still be on level terms heading into break, particularly as Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri had hit the post.
However, the World Cup semi-finalists produced a much-improved display during the second half with Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford grabbing the only goal of the game just nine minutes after the restart.
Leicester defender Maguire conceded after the match that the entire squad had been unhappy with their first-half display, but he confirmed some “stern words” from Southgate helped inspire them during the second 45.
“There were a few words spoken between the boys,” Maguire told Sky Sports.
“We all weren’t happy with the performance, we gave them too much respect with the ball. The pressing was in bits and bobs, people were going and people were staying, so the gaffer had stern words with us and the second half was much better.”
The victory has ended a run of three straight defeats for England and they will be hoping to build on the success when they take on Croatia and Spain in the UEFA Nations League next month.
England, who are priced at 9.00 to win Euro 2020, lost their opening match of the newly-formed Nations League against the Spanish on Saturday.
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