<\/p>\n
Gareth Southgate warned his players not to take European Championship qualification for granted on the eve of England\u2019s opener against reigning champions Italy.<\/p>\n
England return to action at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Thursday, 103 days on from their disappointing loss to eventual runners-up France in the World Cup quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
Southgate considered his future after that disappointment but pledged to coach through to next summer\u2019s Euros, with England kicking off qualification for the tournament in Germany at Euro 2020 final foes Italy.<\/p>\n
The manager is looking for his 50th win in charge and held a meeting before the trip to Naples where he told his players to reset and refocus on qualification.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve been involved in some of the biggest matches in world football and they know the level that\u2019s required, they know they have the ability to compete at that level,\u201d Southgate said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen the fact that whatever we\u2019ve done in the past is irrelevant tomorrow night because we have to start again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to have the humility to work hard to qualify again and it\u2019s a great fixture for us to get that under way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Put to Southgate that European champions Italy\u2019s failure to qualify for the World Cup could act as a warning that qualification cannot be taken for granted, he said: \u201cWithout a doubt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what we did really well after the Euros was our first game away in Hungary \u2013 we gave one of our best performances, I think. Our mentality from the start was really, really good.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t expect that mentality to be a problem but it\u2019s a reminder that these early stages of qualifying are crucial.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can remember us scoring a late goal against Poland at Wembley with no fans and people would have taken that victory for granted but it was such an important moment in qualifying.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had several of those in our previous qualification campaigns.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, although some of those groups looked comfortable in the end, there were plenty of nights where that wasn\u2019t the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
England kick off Group C with arguably their two hardest fixtures, with Thursday\u2019s trip to Italy followed by a Wembley clash against Euro 2020 quarter-final opponents Ukraine on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Winning both matches would see them take a giant stride towards next summer\u2019s finals in Germany, with Southgate challenging his group to secure England\u2019s first win away to Italy since 1961.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a nutshell it\u2019s the sort of challenge that we\u2019ve got to take on and the type of game we have got to start winning,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have over a period but we\u2019ve got to now consistently try to do that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat said, we haven\u2019t won here since 1961 so it\u2019s also another bit of history that we are trying to break down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is a great challenge for this team because they have knocked down so many of those barriers in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know Italy didn\u2019t qualify for the World Cup, but they still have some outstanding players and they are going to have high motivation as well, so it is going to be a fabulous game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Captain Harry Kane could make history in his first international match since his penalty miss against France.<\/p>\n
The Tottenham striker joined Wayne Rooney as the only man to score 53 goals for the national team by scoring his first spot-kick, but his miss later that night saw him pass up the chance to break the record as England bowed out.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen that mentally in his performances and his goalscoring with his club; he has put it behind him,\u201d Southgate said of Kane.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I know he is going to have added motivation tomorrow night to come back and show everybody what he\u2019s about again in an England shirt, so, for us, that\u2019s a good position.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course it\u2019s always difficult to compare across ages. There are a lot that I didn\u2019t see because I wasn\u2019t alive but because of the goalscoring record alone, that puts him in the upper echelons of that group (of great England players).<\/p>\n
\u201cHe provides so much more for the team than just that \u2013 his quality of passing, his vision, his touch.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is an outstanding player and we are very, very fortunate to have him.\u201d<\/p>\n