Manchester United defender Luke Shaw has claimed that Gareth Southgate's squad are a "respectful" group, after the left-back was asked about the notorious viral video of Wales players celebrating England’s defeat by Iceland at Euro 2016.
England face Wales this Tuesday in their final group stage match of the World Cup, with progression to the last 16 all but guaranteed following Friday's drab 0-0 draw with the USA.
Wales have endured a difficult campaign so far, as they drew their opening match with the USA 1-1, before losing 2-0 to Iran after goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey was shown a straight red card.
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Despite the game on Tuesday not carrying as much pressure as it perhaps could have, tensions will still be high as the two neighbours meet in the Middle East. The game will be the first competitive fixture between the two sides since England's shock loss to Iceland in the last 16 of the Euros six years ago, when a clip of Wales players cheering the result went viral.
Although Shaw was not in England's squad for the tournament in France, the United defender admitted that he and his international teammates had not forgotten about the video. Yet the 27-year-old admitted that they would not celebrate in a similar fashion to the Welsh players should they seal their fate on Tuesday.
He said: “I think we are a respectful group. We do things in the right way. That’s the example Gareth wants to set. We are fully behind that. We are fully respectful. That’s the way Gareth sets us out to be.”
“I think you could say that,” Shaw said when asked if the video could be used as motivation for the match. “But our motivation in itself has to be at its highest level. We are at the World Cup. We have great aims for what we want to achieve.
“We have to have the maximum motivation at every game. I don’t think there’s any more motivation than what we have already. We have to have 100% motivation in every training session and every game that we have.
“It wasn’t nice. I don’t want to dwell too much on that. I want to focus on what we do on the pitch. We can say things in interviews and I’d rather do our talking on the pitch, rather than off it.”
Shaw also went on to concede that England need to improve after their 0-0 draw with the USA, as he sent his teammates a word of caution ahead of the clash with Wales.
He added: “I think their [Wales'] motivation is going to be extremely high. They are going to give everything to win. It’s not an easy game. But we need to focus on what we do. The talent we have, the depth we have, we need to focus on ourselves. If we prepare properly, we should win the game.”
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