Lee Carsley hailed his youngsters after seeing the gamble of dropping Harry Kane pay off as England regained control of their Nations League destiny by beating Greece 3-0 in Athens on Thursday night.
Carsley’s decision to omit his captain was vindicated by an early goal from Ollie Watkins and there would also be positive contributions from Jude Bellingham and Curtis Jones. Bellingham, who drew praise for his leadership, forced an own goal from Odysseas Vlachodimos and Jones added a debut goal as England, who regained top spot in Group B2, closed in on promotion to the top tier, knowing that beating the Republic of Ireland in their final fixture on Sunday will suffice.
“The most pleasing thing was the amount of control,” Carsley said. “We created a lot and it’s brilliant for Ollie to get a goal. It’s important if we want to put players in a position to win the World Cup that these players need to have as many experiences as we can. It’s no slight on Harry. He’ll start the next game. I see the quality the players have got. The younger ones are more than capable with the quality and mentality they’ve got. All the players played with such quality tonight. The age of these players, a lot of positives. Curtis was outstanding. Jude was really good.”
Carsley, who stands aside for Thomas Tuchel in the new year, insisted that Kane was fine with starting on the bench. “It’s fair to say he wants to play every game but he understands it’s important for other players to experience what they did tonight,” the interim manager said.
The victory means that England, who lost 2-1 to Greece at Wembley last month, will hope to avoid a Nations League play-off in March. The aim for Tuchel is to focus on World Cup qualification. There had been talk before this fixture about nine players pulling out, but Carsley’s side played with freedom and motivation.
“A lot was made of the lads that weren’t here but the lads that were here, who showed up, were amazing,” Bellingham said.
“There would have been a million and one excuses if we hadn’t played well tonight or got over the line, but the lads did their business so professionally.”
The Football Association is awaiting further details following reports before the game that police fired teargas and struck travelling fans with batons outside the Olympic Stadium. Fans in the away end told the Guardian that the atmosphere darkened closer to kick-off. A green laser pen was also aimed at around six England players during the game.
