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Gareth Southgate says \u201cperformance is the priority\u201d in North Macedonia as already-qualified England look to make up for winning with a whimper against minnows Malta.<\/p>\n
The Euro 2020 runners-up sealed their place at next summer\u2019s edition with two matches to spare and were below par in Friday\u2019s qualifier.<\/p>\n
England disappointed a packed Wembley crowd by limping to a 2-0 victory over Malta, leading the manager to suggest his players had subconsciously taken their foot off the gas.<\/p>\n
Southgate did not castigate those that have done so well for him over the years, but he is demanding a vastly-improved display in North Macedonia as they bring the curtain down on 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerformance is the priority,\u201d Southgate said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve set a standard. We didn\u2019t reach that standard on Friday. We have to get back to what we\u2019re good at. There\u2019s always a chance within that to have a look at a couple of things that we\u2019d like to see as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the biggest thing is making sure we hit the level of performance that we\u2019ve set ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
England\u2019s final match of the year is also set to be their last on foreign soil until the Euros get under way in Germany.<\/p>\n
A sold-out Tose Proeski Arena awaits despite the Macedonians\u2019 qualification hopes already having gone up in smoke, with revenge the main focus on Monday.<\/p>\n
Few saw June\u2019s 7-0 Old Trafford annihilation at Old Trafford coming and Blagoja Milevski\u2019s men are looking to get a famous result having drawn at home to reigning European champions Italy since then.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t at the level of performance that we want on Friday, so all focus on tomorrow\u2019s game,\u201d said Southgate, whose side have so far gone unbeaten this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe play a team who, although they can\u2019t qualify, have tremendous pride and they\u2019ll be wounded by what happened in Manchester.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to be ready for a really good atmosphere. Full crowd, full stadium. We\u2019ve had a calendar year where we\u2019ve been very good, so we want to finish well.\u201d<\/p>\n
England\u2019s final camp of the year has been disrupted by absentees.<\/p>\n
Five players withdrew from the original squad through injury and two more departed the squad before they flew out to the Balkans.<\/p>\n
The Football Association announced Kieran Trippier had gone home due to a personal issue, while injury meant Jarrod Bowen left the camp on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, Jarrod picked up an injury,\u201d Southgate said. \u201cI think he felt it a little bit yesterday and then again at the end of training today.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t really have enough time to assess it fully and make a really accurate decision before the game, so we felt better to leave him in England so that he can get it properly assessed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s got to be anything serious, but we just didn\u2019t have enough time and we wouldn\u2019t take a risk in that situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bowen was in line for a substantial role for rotated England on Monday, so too Trippier.<\/p>\n
Performance is the priority. We’ve set a standard. We didn’t reach that standard on Friday. We have to get back to what we’re good at<\/p>\n
The versatile Newcastle full-back\u2019s withdrawal underlines the dearth of options at left-back in the absence of injured Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to adapt,\u201d Southgate said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a couple of different options and we\u2019re comfortable with it. We can find a good solution to the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t got somebody that is playing there regularly, but we\u2019ve adapted to lots of situations over the last few years and we\u2019re comfortable with doing that again tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about the options and formation switch, he added: \u201cWe probably have done it a little bit on personnel going back a few years.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, yeah, that is an option. We\u2019ve obviously got players that have played as wing-backs. We can adjust. We\u2019ve got Fik (Fikayo Tomori), of course, who did it the other day, Rico Lewis, Marc Guehi can play across there.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s done that for us in a game before so it\u2019s just making sure that everybody\u2019s aware of their job. It changes the way maybe you build up patterns and those sorts of things, but we\u2019re comfortable with the situation we\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n