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Gareth Southgate ordered his England players to remain calm after they were booed off following a disappointing World Cup draw against the USA.
The Three Lions boss launched a staunch defence of his team despite a lacklustre display in a drab goalless stalemate.
Barring the unlikely event of a heavy loss against Wales next week, England will progress to the last 16 - yet that didn’t prevent travelling fans from jeering the players off at full-time.
Gareth Southgate has defended his England players after they were booed off on Friday
Southgate's side put in a poor performance as they stumbled to a 0-0 draw with the USA
But Southgate refused to be critical of his players, saying: ‘Of course I want our fans to go home happy. I want our fans at home to have a smile on their faces.
‘We didn’t quite manage to achieve that tonight. But people are going to react how they’re going to react.
‘I can’t let that affect how I feel about the team or how the team feels. The objective is to qualify. We have three games to do it. I would imagine most of the teams in the competition will take three games to do it.
‘We have to stay calm in these tournaments. We’ve been through this before. I’ve been in it as a player and a coach.
‘We have the unique thing of getting through the last two in two games. So I’m sure there will be a lot of noise - this is the tournament of external noise. But we’re on track. We have a bit to do. We can still improve. That’s going to be our target.’
Harry Kane missed arguably England's best chance towards the end of the game in Doha
England’s performance did not hit the heights of Monday’s 6-2 demotion of Iran, but Southgate was adamant there was still
