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Published 10 October 2024 3 min read
England Men's Senior Team

Lee Carsley: 'We were second best and must respond quickly'

Written by:

Adam Drury

The Three Lions' interim boss accepted Greece were the better side after his team were beaten at Wembley

Report: England 1-2 Greece

Lee Carsley admitted Greece were the better side as England were beaten 2-1 in the Nations League at Wembley on Thursday evening.

The Three Lions appeared to have earned a point after Jude Bellingham equalised with three minutes to play but Vangelis Pavlidis scored his second of two goals to pinch the points in stoppage time.

Carsley was frustrated his side could not take at least a point from the game but believes they were beaten by the better side.

He said: "I think we were probably second best for a lot of tonight. It is disappointing.

"You are going to get setbacks and it's important we respond well now against Finland.

"It was disappointing with the quality we have got. If you look at all of the goals tonight, they are all from mistakes."

The interim head coach did not field a recognised striker from the start, using Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden in advanced areas, but conceded the change in shape didn't pay off.

He said: "We tried something different. We tried to overload midfield and play a little differently. It is something we experimented with and it was disappointing it didn't come off.

"It's a case of trying again now. It is definitely an option. When you have someone of Harry Kane's quality it rules that out because of the goals he gets for us and how important he is for the team. We tried something tonight and we have got the ability in the group to do that.

"It is so important we gain promotion but we tried something different."