England manager Gareth Southgate asks for time as he stands by Wayne Rooney

The former Middlesbrough boss enjoyed a winning start to his spell as interim manager of the national side as Malta were beaten 2-0 at Wembley thanks to first-half goals from Daniel Sturridge and Dele Alli.

It was a mixed performance from the Three Lions, who played at a fast tempo and created a host of chances in the first half but then lost their way after the break against a side beaten 5-1 by Scotland in their opening World Cup qualifier.

Southgate, though, was content with much of what he saw as England try to rebuild in the wake of suffering Euro 2016 humiliation by losing to Iceland and then Sam Allardyce’s reign coming to an end after just one game.

“I am not sure about that,” said the caretaker chief when asked if there was still a hangover from the summer’s failures in France.

“They have had two changes of manager – three managers in the last three games – so that must be difficult to come to terms with.

“It is going to take time for our ideas to get through to them and be embedded into them. I am realistic about how quickly that can happen,

“I picked up a situation last Tuesday that would have been unenviable for anyone. The key was to provide some stability, the second part of the week was to provide a way of playing and start dripping it into the players and the belief I want them to play with.

“I have messages that are different to Sam’s and probably different to Roy Hodgson’s. You have got managers throughout the Premier League who are coming into clubs and have the whole pre season.

“And if you speak to them they will probably say it took that time to get their ideas across. Against Malta, at times I think we could have moved the ball more quickly.

“We might have played with more width as well, we could have played right on the touchline which would have created more space. But I think three coaches in three games speaks for itself.”

Southgate and his squad are back in qualifying action tomorrow night when they head to Slovenia looking to cement pole position in Group F.

It is the second game of the quartet of fixtures that the FA asked the former defender to take charge of following Allardyce’s departure.

In terms of who assumes control on a permanent basis, Arsene Wenger remains highly regarded by the governing body and is into the final year of his current contract at Arsenal. Steve Bruce, wanted by Aston Villa, was also spoken to before Allardyce’s appointment in July and remains an option.

Southgate, though, is the man in the job right now and he has the trip to Slovenia plus next month’s double-header at Wembley against Scotland and Spain to further press his claims.

An improvement on Saturday’s performance will be needed and Southgate has many big decisions to make, not least what to do about Wayne Rooney.

The England captain, again employed in midfield, struggled to break down a Malta side who packed defence at every opportunity.

Rooney did bring a couple of flying saves from Andrew Hogg, the visitors’ clear man of the match, but, overall, his performance was average at best. He also suffered the ignominy of having his name jeered by some in the 81,781 crowd when read out before kick-off.

Southgate said: “I was very pleased with his performance. I felt the role he was asked to play he fulfilled.

“He was asked to dictate the game, play with positional discipline – which we thought was very important. He and Jordan Henderson as a pair did exactly as we hoped.”

Asked if he was concerned that Rooney was struggling to hold down a starting place at Manchester United under Jose Mourinho, Southgate replied: “I think at this moment in time that’s irrelevant. Part of that is because we have got 30 per cent of the Premier League eligible for England. Of that, some don’t want to play, of that some aren’t good enough to play and you have got a captain who is desperate to lead on and off the field and continues to make an outstanding contribution to that group of players.

“So that was why he was selected. What is happening at Manchester United for this week is not as important.”

As for his own future, Southgate added: “My job is to attempt to get the team in a good place over these four games.

“We want to be top of the table once we have played the qualifiers then everyone can breathe.”

Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has been called into the England squad for the first time after Tom Heaton withdrew due to injury. The 22-year-old from Washington has made five Premier League appearances for the Black Cats this season.

Match report: Page 3