England manager Gareth Southgate believes “he has learned a lot” despite his side finishing their European Championship qualifying campaign unbeaten with a disappointing draw at North Macedonia.
Already-qualified England got the point they needed to secure a top seeding at Euro 2024 in Skopje, but were unable to improve on their underwhelming performance in Friday’s 2-0 win over Malta.
“I think in both matches we’ve been able to look at different players as well as trying to win,” Southgate told BBC Radio 5.
“Normally you’re waiting until March to do that. We’ve learned quite a bit from those two games which is an advantage for us.”
The hosts were awarded a controversial penalty at the end of the first half when England debutant Rico Lewis caught striker Bojan Miovski with his hand as he jumped up for a header.
North Macedonia captain Enis Bardhi put his side ahead from the rebound after his spot-kick was saved by England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
England however equalized in the 59th minute when Phil Foden’s corner deflected in off Macedonian Jani Atanasov under pressure from Harry Kane.
The point sealed England’s place in pot one for the draw for next summer’s European Championship in Germany as one of the top five group winners, with 20 points from eight qualifying matches.
