England have another chance to potentially book their spot at Euro 2020 when they take on Bulgaria on Monday night – live on talkSPORT.
The Three Lions missed the chance to secure qualification for next summer’s tournament when they fell to a 2-1 defeat to the Czech Republic in Prague on Friday night.
But if Gareth Southgate’s men can pick up three points in Sofia and Kosovo fail to win their game in Montenegro, they will be assured of their spot in the finals.
Much of the build-up to Monday’s clash has been dominated by concerns over possible racist abuse.
England players were victims of racism on their last visit to Bulgaria in 2011 and 5,000 seats will be closed off at the Vasil Levski National Stadium due to what UEFA deemed “racist behaviour” in previous qualifiers.
The players have been speaking about the issue, with Tammy Abraham claiming England will walk off the pitch at the sound of any abuse.
The comments from the England camp enraged Bulgarian Football Union president Borislav Mikhaylov to the point that he said English players should face sanctions from UEFA if they continue to talk about the possibility of racism in Sofia.
Bulgaria manager Krasimir Balakov also said in his press conference that he believed English football had a bigger problem with racism than his own country.
Southgate has been keen to focus solely on the football, however, and is backing his team to bounce back from their Czech Republic horror show – England’s first defeat in qualifying in ten years.
“We have a very honest group and are very self-reflective,” he said.
“They don’t need me to tell them when they haven’t played at the level they can.
“The key is always to recover from the result. I don’t think defeats harm teams if the reaction is good. Then what you learn from defeats and the resilience from defeats are important parts of a player’s career.”
Bulgaria vs England team news
Tyrone Mings is set to make his England debut with Southgate planning several changes to the side beaten by the Czech Republic.
Southgate will replace Everton’s Michael Keane with Mings in the heart of defence for the game, while Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ben Chilwell are also expected to make up a new look defence in place of Kieran Trippier and Danny Rose, who is suspended.
In attack, Marcus Rashford may return to starting XI, while Harry Winks could play his first England game in a year and Ross Barkley may reaplace Chelsea team mate Mason Mount.
Bulgaria vs England is LIVE on talkSPORT tonight, with our build up the Euro 2020 qualifier beginning at 7pm. The match will kick off at 7.45pm
