England star Jack Grealish has opened up on the motivation he received from Gareth Southgate before his game-changing introduction against Germany.
Three Lions boss Southgate sent on Grealish in place of Bukayo Saka in the 69th minute with everything still all square during a cagey Wembley affair.
The Aston Villa captain did not take long to make an impact, playing a role in the build-up to Raheem Sterling's opener in the 75th minute.
Grealish, 25, then grabbed an assist as Harry Kane put England two-nil up, crossing powerfully to find his teammate, who was presented the simple task of nodding in from point-blank range
England had little trouble seeing out the closing minutes and the full-time whistle was met with raucous celebrations among players and fans.
Grealish's introduction undoubtedly tilted the balance in the Three Lions' favour, and after the match he divulged Southgate's advice to him as he prepared to enter the fray.
"He (Southgate) just told me to go on and express myself, and play the way I usually do, with a smile on my face," Grealish told BBC Sport .
"I went on and did that, and luckily for me I created one of the goals."
Grealish added: "[I] Absolutely loved it. It’s always nice when the fans are calling your name, but it’s not about me, it’s about the team.
"I just come on, try to create and obviously I came on, played a part in the first goal and got the assist for the second so I think it was a good performance from myself.
"When I first came on I was slipping all over the place actually but in the end it ended well."
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Kane's goal marked his first at the European Championship in nine-and-a-half hours, and Grealish explained why it has been difficult" for the England captain to replicate his prolific Tottenham form.
"I don’t know, it’s tough to say. This Euros has been different, I think, to many before," said Grealish of Kane's predicament.
"There’s so much tactical stuff going on that it’s hard for H, because he’s probably our most talked about player, probably our best players.
"It’s difficult because teams are going to double up on him and try and get him out of the game. I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault really in particular.
"But when the game opened up at the end, as soon as Luke gave me the ball, I was actually going to shoot.
"I was going to bring it onto my left foot and shoot, but I saw H in the box and obviously crossed it for him."
