Jarrod Bowen remains upbeat about England’s European Championship chances and has urged supporters to stick with Gareth Southgate’s stuttering side.
Having begun the road to Berlin with a hard-fought 1-0 win against Serbia, a disjointed display in Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Denmark raised alarm and heaped pressure on the Euro 2020 runners-up.
But England sit top of Group C heading into Tuesday’s final pool match against Slovenia in Cologne, where vast improvements are needed from a team under the spotlight.
Southgate’s men are trying to block out the background noise and Bowen, who came off the bench in both games, is keeping their struggles in perspective.
“The mood’s really high and you try not to get involved in the outside world because what we’ve got is a real tight group, a real togetherness,” the West Ham forward said.
“We’re sat here with four points and it’s probably the standards that we’ve set that, you know, it’s not two wins. But it’s still four points, we’re still top of the group and we’re still in control of our own destiny.
“We go with Tuesday’s game, win that and then we’re going into the knockouts but there’s a lot to get to that win. They are a really good side, a lot of respect to them.
“I think every game is so different. It’s my first tournament but the teams that you come up against all pose different threats.
“Serbia were very direct, had a lot of crosses in the box, and Denmark were a lot more technical, I thought.
“But, again, I guess that’s tournament football and the team is a really good opposition, so we know Tuesday be a difficult game but we know what we have to do.
“We’re calm about it. We’re not sat here with two games, two losses, bottom of the group.”
That positivity inside the camp is not reflected by the mood outside it, with boos greeting the final whistle in Frankfurt after blowing the chance to wrap up top spot with a game to spare.
Asked if he had a message for England supporters, Bowen said: “I get it as well because you want to win the games and be in the best position possible. But sometimes it is not as easy as that.
“It is my first tournament so it is my first time seeing England at a major tournament with the fans and the following it is. For me, it is one of the best.
We're still top of the group and we're still in control of our own destiny.— Jarrod Bowen
“Yes, we’re disappointed that we haven’t won the game but those are the standards we have set.
“We want to win these games, we want to win as many games as possible. But it is not given to us as easy as that.
“There is always a process that goes into the game: the build-up, getting to the game and then dealing with the game when we get there.
“So, I think it’s probably just a mix of setting such high standards. We don’t expect to win every game because I think that’s a bit of an arrogance, but we are always confident in our own ability to win.
“My message to the fans would be ‘keep sticking with it, keep showing the support you have’ because for me to experience it has been incredible. Stick with it and we’ll see you on Tuesday.”
Bowen is relieved to be in a position that he can look forward to Slovenia having feared he had suffered a serious injury in Frankfurt, where the hodgepodge Deutsche Bank Park pitch cut up terribly.
“I thought I had broken my ankle in the first two minutes when I came on,” he said. “It was definitely difficult, it’s not an excuse in the slightest.
“But I think Walks [Kyle Walker] had a couple in the first 10 minutes and you could see the chunks of ground coming up a bit, like a bad divot if you hit a bad golf shot.
“It definitely makes you think if you’re sprinting and you need to slow down a bit before you get to the target where you are.
“But it was certainly a welcome to the game for me to sprint after the ball and nearly twist my ankle out of place.”
