England player ratings as Gareth Southgate's changes pay off in Bulgaria thrashing

England defied an evening remembered for all the wrong reasons to get back to their best with a comfortable win over Bulgaria in Sofia.

Whilst racial abuse which caused the game to be halted twice in the first half rightly stole the limelight, Gareth Southgate's side put in a clinical, convincing performance to emerge with a 6-0 win.

After being beaten 2-1 in the Czech Republic on Friday night, Southgate made five changes - and the result was a dominant display.

Raheem Sterling and Ross Barkley both struck twice after Marcus Rashford's vicious opener had set the Three Lions on their way to a comfortable victory to move a step closer to Euro 2020 qualification.

Here's how the players rated in Sofia.

Raheem Sterling scored twice in England's 6-0 win in Sofia (Getty Images)

England

Jordan Pickford 7

Did not have much work to do but was good when called upon.

Kieran Trippier 7

Seems to be winning the battle to be first choice right back. Solid display.

Tyrone Mings 8

Debut remembered for wrong reasons. Somehow kept going. Impressive.

Harry Maguire 7

Looked far more solid and maybe partnership with Mings is something to build on.

Tyrone Mings kept his composure in difficult circumstances on his England debut (Action Images via Reuters)

Ben Chilwell 7

Mobile and quick, if he can hone his defensive skills he will keep his place for a decade.

Harry Winks 8

Excellent. Set the tempo of the team, controlled midfield and must now get a run.

Jordan Henderson 6

Booked. Lucky to only get a yellow card for late challenge, misses next game.

Ross Barkley 9

MotM. Two goals and a role in another, is Southgate’s go-to man in midfield.

Ross Barkley struck a first half brace with a man of the match display (Action Images via Reuters)

Raheem Sterling 8

Somehow he kept playing, stayed focused and was brilliant amid the abuse.

Marcus Rashford 7

What a goal - and what a way to mark your return. So dangerous from the left.

Harry Kane 8

A night for big characters - played well and, more importantly, did captain’s job.

Subs : Henderson, Pope, Alexander-Arnold, Keane, Gomez, Rice, Tomori, Mount, Wilson, Sancho, Abraham

Marcus Rashford fired home a fine individual effort to open the scoring (Getty Images)

Bulgaria

Iliev 5; Pashov 6, Terziev 6, Hadzhiev 6, Zanev 5; Despodov 5, Popov 6, Sarmov 5 (Kraev, 46, 6), Kostadinov 6, Farias 5; Isa 5 (Ivanov, 68, 6).

Subs : Ivanov, Lozev, Dimitrov, Slavchev, Kraev, Mihaylov, Nedyalkov, Malinov, Nascimento da Costa, Ivanov, Goranov, Karagaren