Gareth Southgate admitted that he "understood" the reaction of England fans after he was booed for the second time in just four months after Friday night's loss against Italy.
England produced an inept display in Milan as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat against their hosts - a result that means the Three Lions will begin the next Nations League campaign in Tier B.
Giacomo Raspadori broke the deadlock in style in the 68th minute to light up a dire game at the San Siro. England failed to muster up any sort of response after falling behind and have now failed to score a goal from open play in over 450 minutes of action.
England's winless run now stands at five games ahead of Monday's meeting with Germany at Wembley; their worst run of form in eight years.
Pressure is building on Southgate, who was jeered by fans at Wembley back in June following a chastening 4-0 defeat at the hands of Hungary. And the under-fire England chief was greeted with audible boos again from the 4000 travelling England fans when he ventured over to salute them after the final whistle.
And he admitted that he got the fans' "emotional" reaction following another disappointing result. When he was quizzed on the jeers, Southgate said: "I understand the reaction at the end because [of] the results we've had in this competition. It is an understandable emotional reaction."
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But while he accepted criticism of himself, he was adamant that England produced an improved performance against Italy.
He added: "It's difficult to be too critical of the performance... I personally thought the performance was a step in the direction but I completely understand that because of the result, that won't be the reaction externally.
"The reaction will be guided by the result but we won’t far off with the performance tonight. I have to keep the players on track and not being distracted."
Southgate's sentiments were echoed by Declan Rice, who insisted that, despite the result, England had been better than their previous outings.
The West Ham ace added: "It is obviously disappointing, every tournament we go in we set out to win the group and win every game.
"In the Nations League we have slipped below our standards but I didn’t think it was all bad tonight. One chance and one goal for them, I thought we controlled the game, passed the ball around well and got into some good areas, we just lacked that cutting edge in the end. It is coming though, and it was a lot better performance than in the summer."
