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'I have to look at whether I got the balance right': Gareth Southgate refuses to blame his England stars for shock loss to Hungary and says his under-par Three Lions were affected by heat and end-of-season fatigue Gareth Southgate protected his England players despite the 1-0 loss to Hungary He accepted that the 'team balance' was off between new and senior players England sit bottom of League A Group Three with Germany and Italy to play next The manager felt heat and end-of-season fatigue were key factors in the defeat England will face Germany away on Tuesday before hosting Italy next weekend

By Ben Willcocks For Mailonline

Published: 20:45 BST, 4 June 2022 | Updated: 20:45 BST, 4 June 2022

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Gareth Southgate admitted the 'team balance' was off during England's shock 1-0 defeat to Hungary and refused to blame the players after a long and tiring season.

Hungary took the lead from the penalty spot through Dominik Szoboszlai in the 66th minute and managed to hold on for a clean sheet, thanks primarily to a lack of invention in attack from England.

The Three Lions boss attributed the lethargic performance to end-of-season fatigue, as well as the heat in Budapest.

Gareth Southgate and England started their Nations League journey with a 1-0 loss in Hungary

He also reflected upon his team selection, which included international debuts for James Justin and Jarrod Bowen, and hinted that the mix of new and senior players did not work as planned.

After the match, he said: 'Probably that balance of finding out about new things and the consistent, more regular team, I’ve got to look at whether I got that balance quite right.

'I think the heat was a factor, you could see that took a lot out of the players, that’s why we tried to