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Gareth Southgate says there can be no let-up for already-qualified England if they are to win next summer\u2019s Euros and become the top-ranked team in the world.<\/p>\n
The Euro 2020 runners-up last month sealed their place at the 2024 edition in Germany with two matches to spare and were below par in Friday\u2019s qualifier against Malta.<\/p>\n
England disappointed in the 2-0 victory at a packed Wembley and will look to end 2023 on a high as they round off Euro 2024 qualification in North Macedonia.<\/p>\n
Southgate\u2019s side arrived in Skopje all but assured of being among the top seeds in December\u2019s draw in Hamburg, but every moment counts as they seek to be best on the planet.<\/p>\n
\u201cQualification\u2019s done,\u201d the England boss said ahead of the Group C finale.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the games at the weekend, we might be ranked third in the world at the minute, but we\u2019re two places off where we need to be so we can\u2019t waste games.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the players have got three games to get into a squad, some have got maybe three to get into a team, maybe a couple more if we\u2019re talking about the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s some things we\u2019d like to see. But if we\u2019re going to be a top team, then the level of performance has got to be spot on every time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if being number one drives him on, Southgate said: \u201cYeah, because ultimately you achieve that through consistency and you\u2019ve got to play well in the tournaments as well because the ranking points are higher in the tournaments.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso, it sets behaviours every day on the training pitch, off the training pitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are going to be the top-ranked team, there\u2019s no room for sloppiness or casualness. That\u2019s got to be our drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
England currently sit fourth in FIFA\u2019s world rankings, making it five straight years of being in the top five.<\/p>\n
Their previous best since its launch was six months in the top five across 1997 and 1998, yet there remains plenty of criticism for Southgate and speculation about his future.<\/p>\n
Monday will be England\u2019s final qualifier before the manager\u2019s contract expires next year and he smiled when it was mentioned that former Football Association executive David Dein had said he should get a new deal.<\/p>\n
Asked if he anticipated this being his final qualifier in the hotseat, Southgate said: \u201cI haven\u2019t thought about it, really.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve thought about the game tomorrow and the need for a better performance than Friday so that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been focusing on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel almost as if we\u2019ve almost talked too much about the Euros already and I didn\u2019t see our focus in the right place at the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, it\u2019s tomorrow, then it\u2019s March, then it\u2019s the summer. And we go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Southgate downplayed suggestions of his future being a distraction but suggested his comments about their Euros ambitions may have been.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I think talk of the summer was a distraction on Friday in its own way,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, in football management, frankly I think you should look no further than three or four games ahead anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think when you\u2019ve got a tournament coming up, inevitably, as an international manager, you\u2019re going to be judged on tournaments so everybody before that is pretty futile, really.\u201d<\/p>\n
England\u2019s final camp of the year has been disrupted by absentees.<\/p>\n
Five players withdrew from the original squad through injury and two more departed the squad before they flew out to the Balkans.<\/p>\n
The FA announced Kieran Trippier had gone home due to a personal issue, while injury meant Jarrod Bowen left the camp on Sunday.<\/p>\n
A soldout Tose Proeski Arena awaits England\u2019s absentee-hit 21-man squad as the Macedonians look to make up for June\u2019s 7-0 hiding at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe play a team who, although they can\u2019t qualify, have tremendous pride and they\u2019ll be wounded by what happened in Manchester,\u201d Southgate added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to be ready for a really good atmosphere. Full crowd, full stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a calendar year where we\u2019ve been very good, so we want to finish well.\u201d<\/p>\n