England manager Gareth
Southgate admitted his side still have a long way to go to become a "top
team" after their first qualifying loss in 10 years on Friday as the Czech
Republic came from behind to win 2-1 in Prague.
The
Three Lions got off to a great start through Harry Kane's early penalty. However,
Jakub Brabec quickly equalized for the home team and substitute Zdenek Ondrasek
struck the winner five minutes from time to hit England with their first
qualifying defeat in 44 games since a 1-0 loss to Ukraine in 2009.
"Clearly
that's a night we did not want to be a part of. We didn't play well enough,
it's as simple as that," said Southgate.
"We've
always maintained there is a lot of work to be done to be a really top team.
Tonight was clear evidence of that."
"To
sail through a qualifying group with no issues is unusual so we have to respond
and I expect us to do that," added Southgate.
"Football
is all about responding to setbacks. We haven't had too many so it feels even
more unpleasant. None of us like it, but that's the reality."
England still top the group
thanks to their better head-to-head record with the Czechs on 12 points, but
now have work to do in their final three qualifiers, starting with a visit to
Bulgaria on Monday.
"It's a bit of a wake-up
call," said Kane.
"We're
still in a good position so there's no need to panic, but we've still got stuff
to work on, as you could see tonight."
"It's clear we've got to
improve without the ball," added Southgate.
"That's
something we've spoken about all week and we didn't get the reaction we needed
today.
"It's
not the time to look at individuals. I've got to get the team back on track for
Monday."
Czech
republic is currently ranked 44th in the FIFA world ranking.
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