Carsley credits England players after win in Ireland

Lee Carsley was pleased with a winning start to his spell as England men’s interim head coach, after the Three Lions’ 2-0 victory over Republic of Ireland.

First-half goals from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish proved enough to pick up the points in Dublin, as the new UEFA Nations League campaign kicked-off.

And Carsley spoke after the game to give his thoughts on the performance and different aspects of the game.

“I thought it was good in parts, you have seen some of the things we have tried to do,” he said.

“The lads have to take all of the credit and I think we have shown we have some real talent, and we can be pleased with the clean-sheet as well.

“I would not call it my style of way of playing, the players have to take a lot of credit. The way they have taken some of the things we have spoken about, moving the ball forward quickly, running forwards and getting into pockets, I thought they did really well.”

In particular, Carsley was happy with the midfield goals for Rice and Grealish, as well as the livewire display from Anthony Gordon.

“I thought they both [Rice and Grealish] took their goals really well, they were well-worked moves and brilliant finishes,” he added. 

“I think they can both add a lot more goals to their game. He [Grealish] doesn’t have anything to prove to us, we can see his quality. That will have done him the world of good today, scoring a goal for England, and hopefully we can see more of him in that form.

“It was a really dry and sticky pitch, which is not often good for dribblers, but I thought Anthony [Gordon] was really good. He has carried on his form from last season and he looks like a really dangerous player.”

Carsley and his squad will now switch their attention to Tuesday's game with Finland at Wembley. Tickets for that game are still available now.