Our internal expectations are high - Southgate happy with England optimism

Gareth Southgate says the way England "took apart" the lower-ranked sides in their Euro 2020 qualifying group should give Three Lions fans plenty of optimism for next year's tournament.

England coasted to top spot in Group A, their only blip a surprise 2-1 loss away to the Czech Republic, scoring an impressive 37 goals in eight games along the way.

Having reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in Russia last year, England are among the more fancied sides for European Championship glory.

Croatia, who defeated the Three Lions at the World Cup, and Czech Republic will be in England's group at the Euros with one spot yet to be filled, and Southgate is confident his side will compete with the favourites.

"We expected to win our [qualification] group but the way that we played and the way we took apart those lower-ranked teams, I don't think we could have done any more than we did." he told Sky Sports.

▪️ #EURO2020 qualification ▪️ Impressive goalscoring record ▪️ Importance of the fans ▪️ 1,000th game experience The boss reflects on another year of progress for the #ThreeLions:

— England (@England) December 13, 2019

There is a lot for people to get excited about, our internal expectations are high.

"Of course we want the fans to be excited, I don't want to take away that hope and excitement."