Gareth Southgate has warned he won't have England playing "like Spain" ahead of the World Cup in Russia next year.
The Three Lions qualified for next summer's tournament with a lacklustre 1-0 win over Slovenia at Wembley on Thursday evening as Harry Kane's late goal snatched victory.
The crowd became increasingly frustrated as England failed to break down their visitors for much of the game, and fans' attempts to land paper planes on the turf from the top tier brought the loudest cheers of the night.
But Southgate called for patience in his young side after the game, saying: “They don’t have Champions League winning medals throughout this group, they don’t have league winning medals they are a work in progress, but they give everything they’ve got for the shirt and they are going to improve over the next few years."
England will play Lithuania in Vilnius on Sunday in their final competitive game before next the Russia finals, though very little now hangs on the result.
It means Southgate has eight months to plot England's path to World Cup glory, but can his side really reach the latter stages?
“Well it depends on where you would like to be and what is realistic about how quickly you can improve," he added.
“What we want to do is maximise the abilities that we have and the capabilities that we have.
“Are we going to become Spain in the next eight months? No we’re not, but respectfully they have got a squad full of players that have won league titles and won Champions Leagues.
“We keep talking about world class players and until you are able to really perform and prove yourself on that stage then you can’t consider yourself in that company, but, our lads now have the chance to play on that stage again.”
