Gareth Southgate urged his players to block out criticism of their performance against the USA in what he described as “the tournament of external noise” and defended his decision not to use Phil Foden in the goalless draw.
England were loudly booed off sections of their travelling support at Al Bayt Stadium after they were second best in a deflating stalemate, which nonetheless leaves Southgate's side with one foot in the last-16.
The hard-pressing US went closest to breaking the deadlock, with Christian Pulisic striking the crossbar in the first half, and penned England into their own half for long periods.
The performance was in stark contrast to the 6-2 thrashing of Iran in England's opening group game, and will be viewed as a reality check on their ambitions to win the World Cup, but Southgate was encouraged by the display and called for calm.
Asked about the boos at the final whistle, the England manager said: “Were we booed off though? I'm not sure if that was aimed at us. I don't know.
“Look, of course I want our fans to go home happy and our fans at home to have a smile on their faces, so we haven't quite managed to achieve that today. But people are going to react how they react and I can't let that affect how I feel about the team or the team feels.
“The objective is to qualify, we have three games to do it and I imagine most teams in the competition will take three games to do it. And we have to stay calm in these moments. We've been through tournaments before and I know [what it takes] as a player and a coach.
“I'm sure there'll be a lot of noise. This is the tournament of external noise. We've added another layer to that, I'm sure. But we're on track, a bit to do, we can still win the group. That's got to be our target.”
England looked ponderous with and without the ball but Southgate insisted he was pleased with the efforts of his players and said it was always likely to be a challenge to maintain the levels of Monday's big win.
“Yes, we lacked a little bit of zip and quality in the final third and weren't able to open up and create really good chances,” he said. “But we had to show another side of ourselves in terms of the resilience without the ball.
“To be a successful team at tournaments you've got to show those different faces and we did that tonight. I'm sure there'll be a lot of noise about the performance but not many teams go through World Cups and get nine points in the group.
“We're in a good position, we've got a bit to do to qualify but we've also got an opportunity to win the group. The players were very down and disappointed but I told them that isn't how it's going to be for the next three days. They showed another side to what they're about and it's going to be important moving forward.”
Southgate was slow to make changes and raised eyebrows when he eventually introduced Jordan Henderson and Jack Grealish with 20 minutes to go, and latterly Marcus Rashford, leaving Manchester City playmaker Foden unused.
Asked if he was tempted to introduce the 21-year-old, Southgate said: “I was. Obviously whichever one of our forwards we didn't put on, if we didn't win the game I was going to be sitting here answering questions about why I didn't put them on.
“We wanted to change the wide areas, we didn't think it was a game for Phil in the middle because he doesn't play there for his club and defensively it was a really complicated game for the midfield three to work out.
“That's why we thought Hendo could help us at that moment as well as giving Jude [Bellingham] a physical rest. It was a game for experience in the middle area and then it was a decision on wide players.
“Without a doubt we love Phil, he's a super player. We could have gone with Phil and maybe things would have been different but that was the choice we made on the night.”
Southgate singled out centre-backs Harry Maguire, who caught the eye on his 50th cap, and John Stones for particular praise, adding: “Our two centre-backs were absolutely outstanding on the ball.
“To play with such composure against the sort of pressure and angles that the USA team press with is unbelievably difficult and only when you have two players like we have that you appreciate the strain of the game that they can take.”
