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Lee Carsley wishes the must-win trip to Greece was next week as England’s caretaker boss looks to atone for their Wembley wobble and end his interim reign with Nations League promotion.
The 50-year-old may be non-committal over his managerial ambitions but there is no doubting the temporarily promoted under-21s coach’s dedication to finishing his three-camp senior stint on a high.
September’s 2-0 wins away to the Republic of Ireland and Finland were encouraging, but the mood turned when Carsley’s experimental approach against Greece backfired on Thursday.
England’s discombobulated display led to a deserved 2-1 defeat at an audibly unimpressed Wembley – wounds that remained raw even after bouncing back with Sunday’s 3-1 win in Finland.
“I’m finding this job a challenge in a good way,” said Carsley, who masterminded England’s Under-21 European Championship triumph last year.
“It was really disappointing the other day against Greece to concede a goal in the last minute and to lose the game.
“It’s not something I’m used to doing with England. In the past we’ve won so many games. Losing games is not something I enjoy doing.”
Carsley is using that disappointment as fuel as he looks to continue making amends in the reverse fixture against Greece next time out.
England head to Athens trailing the hosts by three points and knowing defeat would end their chances of promotion back to League A as Group B2 winners.
“It’s just a shame we can’t play Greece next week,” Carsley said. “It’s been a real challenge this camp because of the duration of it.
“The amount of contact time we’ve had with the players coming off the back of the two games a week they’ve had for the last month.
“Obviously next month is going to be the same so, again, the monitoring starts next Saturday, out watching the players and getting the squad together.
“I’m constantly thinking about the squad, the team, the form of the players, who’s playing with who, who do I think can play together.
“I’ve watched the Greece game back twice, and I’ve almost got to put that to bed now and watch this game.
“There was a lot of positives to take from tonight. It definitely gave me a lot of food for thought in terms of the way that we can set up against Greece.
“The plan is simple. We have to go to Greece and win, and then we have to follow that with a strong performance and a victory against Republic of Ireland.”
The trip to Greece and the Republic’s visit to Wembley round off a topsy-turvy year that peaked in July when England reached a second successive European Championship final.
Jack Grealish featured in the run to the Euro 2020 showpiece but had to watch this summer’s tilt at glory in Germany from afar having felt Gareth Southgate harshly overlooked him.
Carsley immediately brought the Manchester City man back into the fold and he scored his fourth England goal – and second under the interim boss – in Helsinki.
“I don’t think Jack had a point to prove,” Carsley said. “Jack’s CV speaks for itself – the amount of trophies he’s won, the club he’s playing at, the importance of him and how important he is to the team.
“It was a privilege for me to be able to pick him. The way he’s played in the games where’s he’s been involved, he’s been outstanding.
“It was a shame he wasn’t available for the Greece game (due to a knock). But we didn’t want to take any risk with him.
“He’s a top, top player and he’s also a great person. He’s infectious throughout the squad, so important to England and it’s just good to see him playing well and enjoying his football.”
Another player impressing after a frustrating period with England is Trent Alexander-Arnold, who scored a fantastic free-kick in Finland.
Repurposed as a midfielder by Southgate, he has returned to full-back under Carsley and been named man of the match in all three of his wins.
“There’s no surprises in terms of the quality he’s got and the areas of the pitch we can get him in,” he said after deploying Alexander-Arnold as a makeshift left-back.
“We were always going to be quite creative on that left-hand side because of the amount of players we’ve got.
“Trent’s applied himself really well over the last few games. He’s got three man-of-the-matches in four games. He’s brought his Liverpool form into internationals and it’s brilliant to see.”
