Ex-Blackburn Rovers man Lee Carsley on being England boss

Carsley was named as Gareth Southgate’s successor after guiding the Under-21 side to a first European Championship since 1984. He has kicked off with wins against the Republic of Ireland and Finland.

The 50-year-old’s playing career included a spell at Ewood Park, making nearly 50 appearances for Rovers.

He was signed by then manager Brian Kidd from Derby in March 1999. It was under Kidd that Carsley was encouraged to play a more attacking role - perhaps a sign of things to come - and he scored 10 times during his 18 months in East Lancashire.

The former Republic of Ireland international eventually departed after falling out of favour with Kidd's replacement, Graeme Souness, going on to join Coventry City - a club he would later return to ins his first coaching role.

He also had stints at Brentford and Birmingham after hanging up his boots and has been involved in the England set-up since 2020.

“It was obviously important that we got the results but more important for me that we had the performances,” Carsley told a press conference.

“You want to stand at the side of the pitch enjoying watching the team play, attacking, being exciting.

“I thought we had that over the two games, scoring four goals is good. I still think we could have been better, we came up against two resilient teams and two excellent goalkeepers. But I think we are moving in the right direction.”

Carsley admitted he has been “out of his comfort zone” since taking up the role but doesn’t believe that is a bad thing.

“I still had that feeling with the 21s, to be honest. I think it is because of the responsibility I feel, I just want the players to do so well,” he explained.

Carsley's side have taken maximum points from their first couple of Nations League games (Image: PA)

“That pushes you because you want to put them in a position where they are performing well and playing to the best of their ability.

“I feel that pressure to make sure we can create opportunities for them to be effective, and hopefully we have done that in the last two games.”

The 50-year-old was given the task of picking up the squad following their heartbreak against Spain in the Euro final.

He opted to call-up several young players who hadn’t played for England at senior level before, including Angel Gomes, Morgan Gibbs-White and Noni Madueke.

Carsley has been pleased with the response from his squad and is hungry to keep improving in the coming months.

“With the squad that we picked, having new players coming in, the younger players with their enthusiasm and energy were always going to help,” he said.

“I was wary that the squad was coming off the back of a massive disappointment over the summer and I wouldn’t have been too shocked if there had been a bit of a hangover.

“The game in Dublin was a brilliant game to come back to because anything less than 100 per cent focus and that could have been a sticky game for us. I have been on the other end of that playing for Ireland.

“At Wembley, 0-0 at half time but you could see the fans were totally behind the team because they could see we were pushing on and trying to score.

“With this squad, the changes you can make really help. I thought the players who came on, as well as those who were replaced, had some really positive performances.”

England’s recent results leave them joint-top of the group with Greece, who also took maximum points.

The Three Lions have a couple more Nations League fixtures against Greece and Finland coming up during the next international break in October.