Prince William ordered England’s players to keep calm and carry on during a covert address to Gareth Southgate’s forlorn players in the af…
Prince William ordered England’s players to keep calm and carry on during a covert address to Gareth Southgate’s forlorn players in the aftermath of their disappointing draw to Denmark.
The future king spoke to the England squad in the dressing room following their game at the Waldstadion on Thursday after the players turned in a below-par performance that has sparked widespread criticism.
But the Prince of Wales tried to raise spirits immediately after the final whistle by telling Southgate’s side not to overreact to the frustrating display.
‘He was just trying to keep us all positive,’ disclosed England midfielder Adam Wharton.
‘He was saying it’s not the end of the world. We were thinking we’re still top of the group, we didn’t lose, we got a draw, we’ve just got to reflect on the game – to see how we can get better and look forward to the next game. That’s all you can do in tournament football.’
‘We have got four points and we are top of the group. We know we can do a lot better in the games, but we haven’t been beaten.
‘We have the same points after two games as the last two tournaments and I would say we are calm.
‘The outside noise is that we have to perform come Tuesday but there is no need to panic. For me personally, we know we haven’t peaked yet.
‘Everyone is behind the manager. Everything we do in training and the meetings we have he delivers them brilliantly for us and gets us the right game plan.
‘We weren’t perfect against Denmark, but that is a good feeling because we know we can improve.
‘The narrative is going to change when we start peaking but for now it is all about Tuesday.’
Meanwhile, Shaw is a major injury doubt for England’s final group clash against Slovenia on Tuesday, with the left-back also expected to miss Sunday’s training session.
The Manchester United star is not giving up hope of featuring in the tournament despite failing to recover from the hamstring injury that has prevented him from playing for five months.
But having missed Saturday’s session at the team’s Weimar HQ, it is understood Shaw is also likely to miss training on Sunday too.
England medics will make a call on whether Shaw can participate in Monday’s training session but even if he is included, there seems little hope that he can play a part against Slovenia on Tuesday. Shaw is yet to play a single minute of football here in Germany.
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