Lee Carsley said he was relieved to sign off his reign as interim manager of England with Nations League promotion.
The Three Lions thrashed the Republic of Ireland 5-0 at Wembley to confirm automatic promotion back into the top tier of the Nations League. After a frustrating first half, England hit five unanswered goals after the break with Liam Scales’ red card for Ireland the turning point.
Harry Kane opened the scoring from the penalty spot before first England goals for Anthony Gordon, Conor Gallagher, Jarrod Bowen and debutant Taylor Harwood-Bellis rounded off a pleasing night for the hosts.
Carsley led the side for the final time ahead of Thomas Tuchel’s takeover and said he was ‘relieved’ to have got Nations League promotion over the line.
“We spoke about it at the first press conference about gaining promotion in the Nations League and it was a relief if I’m honest,” Carsley said, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live:
“I don’t think you can ever get too excited, the performance against Greece was so good. For at least three minutes on the coach driving to the airport I was excited, but then I was thinking we have got another game.
“I enjoyed watching the lads, to play with the aggression and intent that they played with.
“I loved the reaction from the crowd at half-time. If they had got a bit nervy that would have transferred to the players. I think they could tell the players were playing with intent.”
Carsley has handed debuts to eight players during his six-game spell, introducing several names from the u-21 set-up into the senior side. He said he was confident the emerging group were ready for the demands.
“I can only do what I was in control of. It’s not a gamble with some of these players, they are excellent players, they want to overcome anything in front of them and at the under-21s they have had an expectation of winning,” he told ITV Sport.
“It [his spell in charge] has given myself and the staff the confidence that we can do the job. You always doubt whether you can do the job, and there’s a lot of people in their homes picking the squad and picking the team.
“The trust from my bosses has been a massive boost of confidence.”
