WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
No ‘burnout’ excuses for England boss Southgate
London — England manager Gareth Southgate insists he will not accept burnout as an excuse should the country suffer a familiar World Cup flop in Russia in 2018. England are on the brink of wrapping up their place at the 2018 finals and face Slovenia on Thursday and Lithuania on October 8 in their concluding Group F qualifiers. Former England football bosses Fabio Capello and Sven-Goran Eriksson blamed fatigue for tournament failures. "I’m not a huge believer in burnout," said Southgate who appeared 57 times for England as a central defender during his playing career, from 1995 to 2004. "I think there’s mental fatigue, but physically, it’s about getting the right level of training, the appropriate stimulus to make sure people are ready." Key to England’s hopes in Russia, should they qualify, will be Tottenham’s prolific striker Harry Kane who hit 13 goals in all competitions in September. However, at Euro 2016, where England were humiliated by Iceland in the last-16, Kane struggled a...
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