Shropshire Star

Steve Bull: Don't let complacency creep in tonight England!

It is a massive game for England against Ukraine tonight and the key is just to carry on performing as they have been.

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Steve Bull

From the start of the Euros, they have been solid and this could well be the year.

Against Croatia back in the group, they got it done in the first half before tiring a bit in the second.

Along came Scotland where I thought Gareth Southgate picked the wrong team, but we got a draw out of it.

Then, against the Czech Republic, it started to click and Southgate got it spot-on tactically against Germany – stopping them from playing – so fair play to him.

On the whole, it has been extremely efficient, and you can’t ask for much more in tournament football.

Having been part of it for Italia 90 when we made it to the semi-finals, it is always a bit of a slow build.

We only scored twice in our three group games, picking up draws with Ireland and the Netherlands before beating Egypt 1-0.

It is difficult because as players, you haven’t been playing together for 12 months beforehand. You don’t know each other inside out, so it’s hard to get going straight away.

It takes time to figure out what your team-mates are doing and what the manager wants, so Southgate has done well up to now.

And I’m hoping we get stronger as we go on and get the result we all want in Rome.

Hopefully, no complacency creeps in and we give it the same determination against Ukraine as we did against Germany.

Our skipper at Wolves, Conor Coady is yet to get any minutes and he’ll be a bit frustrated at that. Ultimately, though, it is a squad effort, and we all know he’ll be just as vocal off the pitch as he is on it.

They’ll know he is there and even if he does not get on, fingers crossed that he can say he was part of something truly special.

Back at Compton, meanwhile, they have got an exciting time coming up with the start of pre-season under new boss Bruno Lage.

Of course, they will be doing a lot of running in this first week which can be really tough, but I would imagine they are all desperate to impress him.

They will be working their socks off and desperate to get themselves in the team for that first friendly at Crewe.

You never read too much into the results of pre-season games, but some wins – especially against Spanish duo Real Betis and Celta Vigo – certainly wouldn’t hurt.

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