On the one hand, England avoided the dangers lurking in pot two in Friday’s World Cup draw and find themselves in a favourable group alongside the USA, Iran and one of Scotland, Wales or Ukraine.
Having avoided Germany, the Netherlands and Croatia, and some of the tougher looking sides in pots three and four, like Cameroon and Senegal, Gareth Southgate and his players can be confident of a relatively straightforward path to the knockouts - even if they are guaranteed to make all the right noises about how tough it will be to progress.
