England v Brazil 
Men's International Match
7pm GMT, Saturday 23 March 2024
Wembley Stadium connected by EE

The Three Lions boss started his press conference at Tottenham Hotspur’s training ground by sending best wishes to the Princess of Wales and her family after she revealed on Friday night that she had been diagnosed with cancer.

Southgate said: “Clearly we’ve just heard about the Princess of Wales and we just wanted to send our thoughts and best wishes to her and all of her family.

“It was a remarkably dignified statement that she gave and we obviously have a very close relationship with the family, so we’re very upset to hear the news but hopefully everything goes well.”

Southgate and Stones were then asked about a wide range of subjects. You can watch the press conference in full below and we have picked out some of his answers relating to Saturday’s match against Brazil at Wembley Stadium connected by EE too.

On the availability of Harry Kane, Jordan Henderson and Cole Palmer for Brazil

“No Harry Kane, no Jordan Henderson and no Cole Palmer. I would say Cole and Hendo have a better chance of Belgium than Harry as he will be extremely doubtful for that.”

On whether Ben Chilwell can play 90 minutes this camp following his return from injury

“Yes, he would be. He missed the last couple of games [for Chelsea] but that wasn't an acute problem as such. It was just something that needed to settle down, and he's trained all week with no problems.”

On having a lot of players missing for games against two of the best teams in the world

“It means that it's a brilliant opportunity for other players. We need to see other players ahead of the EUROs and if we were playing lesser teams, you'd still have that little pressure in your mind that if they played well, then okay, how well are they going to be against the next level of opposition? So from our perspective, it is a great exercise and a great opportunity really.”

On whether the players have a different feeling in camps leading into major tournaments

“I think everybody recognises that we only have two matches before we would name what will probably need to be a longer squad at first in the summer. But we don't need to build these games up because the quality of the opponent does that and the timing of the year does that.

“What I've seen is new players that have come in and have fitted in brilliantly. Our more regular players and our senior players make that as comfortable as possible and I think if you talk to any of the boys that have come in, they would identify that.

“We're really looking forward to the challenge of the two games.”

On honouring Terry Venables during the game with Brazil

“It is brilliant to be able to honour Terry at the game. When you look at English coaches, we haven't had a huge number of English coaches that have had big jobs around European football; Terry and Bobby Robson are probably the two most high profile really, both having managed Barcelona.

“Terry was a brilliant man-manager, tactically very inventive…and the team in 1996 was an extremely experienced group and he was brilliant at managing those big characters.

“I wasn't young, I was 25 when I first went in, but he had the respect of all of the senior players – that was clear – and you have heard them all speak in recent times.

“So it's lovely that he is being recognised and it is lovely that a lot of that 96 squad are coming to the game to do that as well because we want them to feel part of the England family. We think that's important…hopefully that will add another touch to what's a very special occasion.”

🫶 pic.twitter.com/918dyHrXQl

— England (@England) March 21, 2024

On whether the final step in this team's development is to consistently win games against top teams like Brazil and Belgium

“I’ve read that we've only beaten Brazil four times out of 26 games, or something like that. There have been a lot of matches against big opponents that we don't have outstanding records against that this team has managed to beat – Italy twice, being an example, and Spain.

“So it is another opportunity for us to put a marker down and create a little bit more history for these boys.

“We are going to be tested in every aspect of our game, and that is going to be a great challenge for us.”

John Stones on the prospect of facing Brazil

“I don’t see friendly games as friendly games. We are playing against one of the best teams in the world over the past I don't know how many years, a team full of top players playing in numerous countries around the world, with a lot of different attributes.

“It is a bit different this time with injuries and a new manager, as Gareth said, but nonetheless, it is a great test for us as a team to get something out of it and then move on to the game on Tuesday and hopefully finish this week off with two wins.”