World Cup: Gareth Southgate convinced England' senior players will have big role to play in Qatar

Relegated after failing to win any of their six matches, it raised questions over who should be in the provisional squad named on October 19.

Sheffield-born Harry Maguire typified it on Tuesday, conceding a penalty which allowed Germany to take the lead at Wembley, and making the error which saw them double it. But the spirit which allowed them to go from 2-0 down to 3-2 up - only for a late Nick Pope error to cost them victory - highlighted the leadership Southgate sees in the group.

"The players have been fantastic the last few days, they've taken some individual responsibility and I think the whole experience has been one we needed to grow as a team," said Southgate, whose side lost in Italy last Friday.

"You're going to have pressure in a World Cup.

"You can try to avoid pressure but it's coming - maybe it's in the group game, maybe it's the quarter-final, whatever it might be, it's coming, so better that we feel it and learn how to deal with it. We talked about how we needed to react if Germany scored and the players reacted in the right way.

"They asked could they have a meeting on their own to talk things through and for me that was such a positive sign. There's moments at some clubs where that's not such a good sign!

"The best football teams need outstanding leadership from the coaching team but have a real core of players that drive things.

"It was about keeping people on track – we're on board with what we're being asked to do, we need to stay calm. We've been through moments like this before.

"We were hoping that sort of thing would happen. We can talk about team spirit when things are going well but the true test is in a bit of adversity."

That must be balanced against form and the lack of club football the likes of Manchester United pair Maguire and Luke Shaw are playing, but the performance of the latter will only have pushed Southgate's instincts to trust those who have served him well in the past particularly, with regards to Maguire, as he is set on playing a back three.

"I know people will focus on Harry but there were some very important moments Harry delivered across the two matches," insisted Southgate.

"Luke is an outstanding footballer so were we going to drop him because he's not playing enough football or do we play him and watch him do what he did on Monday?

"We'll select our best, most experienced players unless we're in a situation where it's almost untenable.

"I don't think the system was responsible for any of the goals. What pleased me was the threat we looked playing that system.

"I've got to accept there's going to be a huge amount of noise around selections but if I'm going to be wishy-washy and not stick to what I think is right and gives us the best chance of winning, it's pointless me doing it."