Gareth Southgate praises Jermain Defoe’s striking return for England

Gareth Southgate identified room for improvement for England after the largely forgettable 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Lithuania at Wembley. We know going to Scotland will be hard and Lithuania on the plastic will be a different test.

But just how did the England players perform at Wembley? It should not have been almost four years before he made his next appearance for his country.

The goal should have settled England but Lithuania nearly took advantage of a brief lull in the immediate aftermath, captain Fedor Cernych spraying wide from 20 yards.

Bradley Lowery was picked last month to be a mascot for the World Cup qualifier against Lithuania, since when his hero Defoe has been brought back into the England squad. “It was a proud moment to captain your country, but I know my place in the team”.

Vykintas Slivka somehow avoided the offside flag and captain Joe Hart, getting a header away that John Stones hacked away before the ball crossed the line. This was an incredibly kind gesture and shows the type of player Hart is. “It was a painful defeat in Sofia, during which the chances of the Netherlands qualifying for the World Cup diminished”.

Vardy took just seven minutes to find the net, steering a shot between Setkus and his left-hand post after Lallana delicately flicked Kyle Walker s pass into his path.

The ball was headed clear by one of the Lithuanian defenders but, had it led to a goal, it would have been one of the best assists of the season. He was clearly offside but it wasn’t flagged.

Vardy and Marcus Rashford did offer some extra impetus when they were introduced in the second half. He was allowed space and fired a left-footed shot which Hart saved easily.

A standout performance saw Defoe go close on a number of occasions, before exited the field of play to a standing ovation on 60 minutes.

With an attacking midfield four of Lallana, Alli, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sterling behind him it will be interesting to see how Defoe performs against a Lithuania team who are now ranked 107th in the world by Federation Internationale de Football Association.

After watching Defoe give non-Soccer Aid England the lead on Sunday, Wilkes was quick to take credit for the role he and the rest of those involved in Soccer Aid played in his return to England duty.

Somewhat inevitably, it was Defoe who opened the scoring for England too.

Raheem Sterling slipped past Egidijus Vaitkunas on the left before rolling in a cross that Defoe planted into the net for his first global goal since March 2013.