England captain Harry Kane has urged his teammates to remain positive after the Three Lions suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat to Spain in their UEFA Nations League opener at Wembley.
Kane believes England’s ability to compete with the reigning world and European champions shows they are moving in the right direction under manager Thomas Tuchel.
England made a poor start when Lamine Yamal put Spain ahead after just two minutes, but the hosts quickly responded.
Anthony Gordon equalized after a rapid counter-attack before Kane headed England into a 2-1 lead just four minutes later, as the home side produced an impressive spell of attacking football.
Kane believes maintaining that level for a full match remains England’s next challenge.
The Bayern Munich striker said the team had shown at the World Cup that they could reach high standards but had struggled to sustain them for 90 minutes.
He urged the squad to take the positives from the defeat, saying they must “dust ourselves down and go again”.
England had an opportunity to extend their advantage when they were awarded a penalty, but Kane’s effort struck the crossbar.
Spain then took advantage of the reprieve, with Alex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal scoring to complete the comeback and give the visitors all three points.
Despite missing from the spot and seeing England surrender their lead, Kane said little separated the two teams on the night.
He maintained that England had gone “toe-to-toe” with the world and European champions and suggested the result could have been different on another occasion.
England now have little time to dwell on the defeat, with their next Nations League fixture coming against Czechia on Tuesday, September 29.
The Three Lions will look to turn their encouraging attacking display against Spain into a positive result as they continue their international campaign.
