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Gareth Southgate warned that the discipline of his players must improve after England were shown two red cards for the first time ever in a match during last night’s damaging defeat by
Denmark. England were reduced to ten men inside 31 minutes at Wembley when Harry Maguire was sent off for two reckless tackles, and then had Reece James dismissed on his full debut for
dissent after the final whistle. Both players will serve suspensions with Southgate, the England manager, having already seen eight players miss matches for off-the-field indiscretions over
the past 12 months. A first-half penalty condemned England to a first home defeat for two years and Southgate conceded that their problems are self-inflicted and need to be rectified. Having
gone six years without a red card, England have now had three in four competitive matches with Kyle Walker also sent off against Iceland last month. Advertisement “It is an obvious question
that we are going to be asked and we have put ourselves in unnecessary situations off the field,” he said. “We have got to learn from it for sure because if you go to ten men in a
tournament then, historically, that has meant we are out. It has cost other teams. “Of course there have been things off the field which haven’t been right. We’ve addressed them.” Maguire,
the Manchester United captain, has found himself under the spotlight after missing September’s internationals, having been found guilty of assault while on holiday in Mykonos in the summer.
He awaits a retrial after the conviction was quashed. His form at club level was poor coming into the latest get-together and dreadful tackles on Yussuf Poulsen after five minutes and then
on Kasper Dolberg led to his marching orders. Advertisement Southgate refused to elaborate on his suggestion that the 27-year-old “has been getting all sorts for a while from some people who
should know better” and vowed to continue picking him. “He’s having a difficult period and in these periods you learn a lot about yourself,” Southgate said. “You learn a lot about other
people. You learn who’s there for you in those difficult times. He’ll come through it and he’ll be a better player and a stronger man for it. He knows there will be criticism after this and
you have to accept that. To go down to ten men is costly for the team. But we fully back him. He’s been a top player and is a top player for us. “Knowing Harry as I do, he’ll want to play
football. The best place for him to be is on the pitch.” The Chelsea defender James spoilt an impressive performance when he became the first England player to be sent off on his first start
when confronting the referee Jesús Gil Manzano. Advertisement “That’s something as a young player he has to recognise is not acceptable,” Southgate said. Inter Milan’s Christian Eriksen,
formerly of Tottenham Hotspur, scored the penalty conceded by Walker just moments after Maguire was dismissed. England slipped from the top of their Nations League group to third place and
face Belgium next month in Brussels before hosting Iceland.