England captain Harry Kane has fired a warning to his team-mates following Friday night’s defeat to Iceland at Wembley.
Gareth Southgate’s men are one of the favourites for Euro 2024 but they were booed off following a 1-0 defeat in their final warm-up game for the tournament.
The Three Lions head to Germany with one of their most talented squads in recent memory and stand a really good chance of ending their long 58-year wait for a trophy.
Kane sends warning to England team-mates
England will be looking to go one better having lost the final of Euro 2020 on penalties to Italy, but it feels like they are heading to Germany slightly underprepared.
Southgate’s side will come up against Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia in the group stage, and Kane who scored 36 Bundesliga goals in his debut season for Bayern Munich feels there is plenty to improve upon ahead of their opening game on Sunday.
“Of course there will be some noise about it [losing to Iceland] but I think there is a lot of optimism from the fans and rightly so,” Kane said in quotes picked up by BBC Sport.
“This could be a nice wake-up call for everyone to realise it is not going to be as easy as people think, there is a lot of work to do.”
“There are areas we need to improve, especially with our pressure.
“The group games are going to be very similar to this, we are going to have to defend well, especially the longer balls, and with the ball we need to be a bit more patient, it is one to look back on.”
Kane also insisted the belief amongst the group remains as strong as it’s ever been and that he’s excited for another major tournament.
“I am just excited for another major tournament,” he added.
“I have said many times to judge us on the tournament form, on the tournament football.
“Ultimately it is down to us to make sure we get it right on the pitch, we have a lot of fantastic players, players who have had really, really good seasons, you can’t ignore that.
‘Being so close in the last Euros (beaten in final), there is a real hunger to be back, it comes around quick, if I’m honest.
“We had the World Cup and we are back here again, I feel like we are on the right path.”
“We have that mindset that we can achieve it we also know there is a lot of hard work from now until the final in July.”