Gareth Southgate Heaps Praise on Marcus Rashford Following Match Winning Performance

England boss Gareth Southgate was full of praise for Marcus Rashford and his team as they came from behind to secure a win over Slovakia on Monday evening at Wembley.

Despite going behind in the third minute to a Stanislav Lobotka goal, the Three Lions rallied to claim all three points after goals from Eric Dier and the impressive Rashford.

The result leaves England four points clear at the top of Group F only needing a point from their remaining two games to secure a place at next summer's World Cup in Russia.

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Speaking to the press after the game, Southgate revealed that he was pleased with his side's' performance and that it was his most satisfying win as England manager yet, saying: 

"Yeah definitely I think to come from behind against a side who i thought had some very good footballers especially in midfield it was a real step forward for us.

"We needed to show character and i think eventually as the game wore on we finished really strongly." 

The 47-year-old also hailed the performance of match winner Rashford, following the 19-year-old's reaction to being at fault for the Slovakia goal, as well as praising the crowd at Wembley.

"He showed like the rest of the team great character, he's made the mistake for the goal but kept persevering was a real threat. As did the whole team we kept going. I've got to say a lot was asked of the crowd the other night, the crowd were brilliant tonight at a goal down the crowd stayed with us an it was of huge importance to the team."

Despite the high levels of praise, Southgate refused to get carried away and heap pressure on the Manchester United forwards talents, saying: "Its very early so we've got to keep things in perspective he is exciting.

"There's a bit of a reward for us i think we gave him last summer off from going with the 21s and he looks stronger for that and he can have an impact in games but there a long way to go."

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However, there was one negative for the Three Lions during their victory after midfielder Dele Alli was seen to gesture towards the referee after feeling he should of been awarded a freekick, but the manager was unaware of the situation.

"You've only just told me before we started, I haven't seen it but well have a look at it over the next couple of days." Should Alli be found guilty it may well rule him out of the Slovenia game in October and affect him in the World Cup depending on the length of his ban.