Gareth Southgate: England's win against Slovakia was an 'important step'

Gareth Southgate felt his developing England team took an "important step" in coming back against Slovakia, shedding the mental shackles that cost them dearly last year against Iceland.

Monday night saw the table-topping Three Lions host their nearest rivals in the race for next summer's World Cup.

Slovakia would have overtaken Southgate's men at the top of Group F with a victory that was on the cards when Marcus Rashford's early mistake was brutally punished by Stanislav Lobotka.

The third-minute strike stunned Wembley and left England's players shell-shocked for much of the first half, struggling for creativity and guile as stage fright appeared to take hold.

The ignominious Euro 2016 exit to Iceland came to mind but this time the Three Lions rallied as Rashford's corner was turned in by Eric Dier before the Manchester United attacker fired home to secure a 2-1 win, putting his team on the brink of World Cup qualification.

"We've said (on Sunday) that this is a work in progress and the only way for them to improve is to go through those sort of experiences together and win," said Southgate, who viewed June's comeback draw in Scotland as similarly important from a mental standpoint.

"I thought what I did see were signs of leadership. I thought the captain (Jordan Henderson) was excellent, really drove the team from midfield.

"I thought our two centre-backs really got to grips with the game, so all of a sudden there was comfort in a clear method of playing, but also there were individuals who stepped up at important moments with and without the ball.

"That's what we've got to keep developing. This was really an important step against who I thought was a very good team, but of course there will be even tougher tests to come."

England now have a five-point cushion at the top of Group F with just a home match against Slovenia and a trip to Lithuania, ranked 99th in the world, to come.

Southgate may well be tempted to experiment in next month's qualifiers, especially if progress is sealed by the time they head to Vilnius - their final competitive match before the World Cup.

Nathaniel Chalobah and Harry Maguire will be pushing to make their debuts having been unused members of the squad this time, while the England boss may also decide to shake things up tactically.

Southgate has dabbled with a three-man defence since the turn of the year, but kept with a more traditional four as qualification comes to a conclusion.

"I think we can play both," he said.

"We call it 4-2-3-1 but you're never actually in that shape with the ball or without it - or you shouldn't be otherwise you're in trouble and maybe a couple of times we have been and that's why we got in trouble.

"We've got to be able to play a couple of different systems, I think.

"For the games we've had, this has worked. I think the players are very clear now on some of the detail of that.

"We can still improve upon that for certain, with and without the ball.

"But at some point also I want to look at an alternative because I think if you only have one way of playing, then that's going to create a problem further forward."

Assuming England do not somehow conspire to lose top spot, high-profile Wembley friendlies against Germany and Brazil will be an important chance to test their mettle in November.

Another mouth-watering friendly is lined up in March away to Holland - a match England's travelling hordes will be sure to savour.

Southgate hopes to have given those fans something to smile about on Monday having underwhelmed them in Malta, where they were subjected to unsavoury chants and boos at times.

There were no such problems as England did the business at Wembley, where the team showed their appreciation at the end - even if many had headed for the exits.

"I've got the tube from Wembley Park so I know how that works," Southgate said with a smile. "It's very difficult to get home.

"We wanted to do that anyway, we have done that in all of the matches since the start of the summer.

"It is something we decided as a team - whatever the result, we want to do.

"For me, the crowd played a big part for us tonight, sticking with us when we needed them."