England manager Thomas Tuchel has urged his side to deliver a far stronger performance when they face Serbia in Belgrade on Tuesday, following an unconvincing 2-0 victory over Andorra at Villa Park on 6 September.
England, ranked among Europe’s elite, laboured for long spells against the team sitting 170 places below them in the FIFA standings. The breakthrough came via an own goal from Christian Garcia Gonzalez before Declan Rice’s late header gave the scoreline a more respectable look.
Speaking afterwards, Tuchel admitted that his players must rise to the challenge of a far more testing opponent.
“We will try to prove a point to win and put out the next performance, and to be tough in the circumstances,” he said.
“We expect a very emotional stadium, an emotional crowd. We expect to adapt to the circumstances. We don’t know what the pitch looks like. Make no excuses.
“Then we came up against a very physical team. They will attack us man-to-man. They have international top quality up front, they play very direct, and we have to step up to this and prove we are a strong group on the right path.”
Despite their flat display, England remained in control of Group K with 12 points from four matches, chasing qualification for next year’s World Cup finals. Serbia sit second on seven points from three matches and will look to close the gap when they host Tuchel’s men in Belgrade.
