Gareth Southgate treated his players to a day off after warning his players they face another “tough game” ahead.
Three Lions stars were excused from training on Wednesday as they get an extra day to prepare to face Senegal on Sunday having won their Group. England are red-hot favourites to beat Senegal who are without the injured Sadio Mane but Southgate dismissed any ideas that it will be an easy game.
Three Lions boss Southgate said: “It is a team I have seen enough of, I saw them play Iran a couple of months ago and even without Sadio they have got good players, are well organised.
“It is going to be a tough game, it will be similar to the games we've had already in this group, the USA one for example and we are going to have to deal with it. We are going to have a different challenge but a lot of their players play in Europe so they are used to the style of play.
“Their style of play, from what I have seen in the games, is pretty controlled anyway, they have outstanding individuals that can make a difference. We have got a day now where the players don't need to train, that is great, they don't have to see our faces so they will be delighted about that!
“We get them off their feet, especially the players who haven't started so much because they have been training nearly every day so mentally they need that break.
“We will watch a load of tapes of Senegal because that is how we get our kicks! I'm not sure we have got nothing to lose, I'm not sure if that is ever the case.”
Southgate says the “incredible spirit” makes England’s squad rotation easy. Southgate brought in Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden for Raheem Sterling and Bukayo Saka against Wales and is likely to make changes again for Senegal in the last 16.
That is a reflection of the strength in depth and the quality in England’s squad but Southgate also insists that the players help because they are all pulling in the same direction.
Three Lions boss Southgate said: “Of course players are disappointed not to start games, they want to, but we’ve got an incredible spirit amongst the group who take that as well as you can expect.
“They get on with it and, of course, they’ve got to be ready for when their moment comes. Raheem has had two starts and he’s playing at big clubs where you know that you don't necessarily start every game. They do understand that.
“We’ve scored a lot of goals. I think we’ve had control of large parts of all of the games we’ve played. Defensively we've been very strong in the last two in particular so that's a good platform and, as I said, there’s competition in all parts of the pitch which is really important.”
