Gareth Southgate said it was good to see is England side 'suffer' in their 1-0 win over Serbia. Jude Bellingham's 13th minute header proved enough for the Three Lions, but they had to come through a tense second half where they were penned deep for much of the latter stages.
Southgate however, argued it was a positive that his team had to endure some tricky moments, with keeper Jordan Pickford making a crucial late save from Dusan Vlahovic.
“That’s the reality of tournaments. They’re a strong team," he told the BBC.
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"We had to suffer a bit which I think is really good for us. I think to defend the box the way we did was really good for us. I was really pleased with a lot of the play. Second half we didn't keep it as well as I would have liked but to get the win is very important."
Southgate was also pressed on the importance of Bellingham, as well as his tactic of deploying Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield. The Liverpool man endured a mixed evening, and was hauled of shortly after the 70 minute mark for Conor Gallagher.
"He writes his own script (Bellingham). The timing of his runs. It was a super bit of play in the build-up of his goal. I think all of our forward players looked really good."
And he also praised Alexander-Arnold, who he said had to adapt to his team-mate pushing forward into the area. "I have to say, he has been really diligent in getting his positioning right," added Southgate.
"I think he adapted and adjusted really well and used the ball well. Had a really good effort on goal but in the end we wanted some fresh legs in there. We have got a squad and we need to use it."
England's next clash, and a chance to secure their spot in the last-16, comes against Denmark on Thursday. And they seemed to come their opening win unscathed, despite Kieran Trippier having to leave the field for brief treatement in the first half.
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Harry Kane had a chance to put the game to bed in the closing stages, only for his header to cannon back off the bar. But Southgate wasn't concerned over the failute of his side to kill things off, and declared himself happy with opening with three points.
"We obviously had good chances to extend the lead and kill the game which we didn’t mange to take," he added. "So I was really pleased with a lot of the play. First half I think we used the ball really well. Second half we didn’t keep it quite as well as we need to. But to get the win and the start that we have is really important."
