Gareth Southgate will think long and hard about freshening up the Three Lions for their latest battle of Britain.
England’s head coach admitted he is concerned at the work-load that has already been demanded of his stars and is poised to ring the changes ahead of Tuesday’s crunch clash against Wales.
Southgate went into the tournament warning that he would have to take it steady with a couple of players - with skipper Harry Kane and wonderkid Jude Bellingham at the top of his list of worries.
In the week before the squad met up at St George’s Park, Spurs’ boss Antonio Conte admitted England’s skipper was so tired he had asked to sit out a training session ahead of a Carabao Cup defeat at Nottingham Forest.
And with teenager Bellingham having played in every game for Borussia Dortmund this term - as well as captaining the side - Southgate’s fears look well founded.
Others will come under the microscope after a leggy display against the United States in which the Three Lions were lucky to escape with a clean sheet and a point.
Southgate admitted he has some serious thinking to do before facing Rob Page’s men. He said: “We’re going to have to look at it over the next couple of days and see where the energy levels are and the best way to approach it.
“The game against the US was always going to be an extreme test of our athleticism because you’re playing a team that is one of the most athletic in the tournament.
“I thought we were just a little bit low on energy in one or two positions but I’m not unhappy because I knew it was going to be difficult to get at their defence.
“And we cannot roll out Jude for 90 minutes every game. We’ve got to look after him and Jordan Henderson has been training really well.
“It wasn’t a gamble to play Harry, either. He’s had a whack on his foot so there is a bit of discomfort when he’s striking the ball but we are not talking about taking any risk with him. But I’ve got to assess how everybody is.
“Then I’ve also got to consider refreshing certain positions because we have got a good squad and these games are taking a lot out of people.”
Southgate faced similar at his last tournament as Scotland stood in England’s way during the European Championships. England’s boss said both he and his players know what to expect.
He said: “We’re facing an opponent that is wounded and, like everyone else, desperate to beat the English. We know what that will be like. We need to play an intelligent game and play it well.
“We need to match their spirit. I’d be very disappointed afterwards if someone says their players want it more than ours. I’d be asking questions about what we stand for and what we have stood for over the past five years. I don’t think that during the time I’ve been in charge we’ve fallen short because of pride and emotion.”
The overriding feeling from England’s camp after the battle against Gregg Berhalter’s men was that this was a hard-earned point against well-drilled and athletic opponents. Set against shock defeats in the opening week for Argentina and Germany, Southgate offered up a small plea by way of mitigation.
He said: “The objective is to qualify. We have three games to do it. We’ve been fortunate in the past two tournaments that we’ve done it after two.
“I know what will be going on. I know there will be noise - this is a tournament like no other for noise - and we’ve got to make sure we stay calm and crack on.
“If we’re going to get to the stage of the tournament that we want to, we have got to show lots of different sides to our character - and we’ve got to come through nights like the ones we will have against Wales.”
