Marcus Rashford feels close to his best ahead of Wales encounter

“As players, we always want to play our best football but it’s not possible. You can’t always play the best football, you have to learn to win games, when you’re not playing well. Like I said, it’s unrealistic you’re going to be the best team and the best individual on the pitch in every single game.

“So, you know, we’re obviously not happy with the way we performed in the last game, we know we can do better. At the same time, we’re in a strong position in the group, it’s not often teams win all three games in the group games so, if we manage to beat Wales, which we’re looking to do, it can be considered as a good start.”

The homegrown Red was naturally thrilled to score in the opening win over Iran, as he targets more memorable moments out in Qatar.

“Obviously, it was a great feeling just to pull on the England shirt again,” he said. “Something I’ve missed out on since the Euros. So the initial feeling of meeting up with the lads, training and being around them in the hotel and then getting back out on the pitch were all great feelings. The goal just capped everything off.

“I’m really happy I’m here again. It was a great feeling [to score]. When you’re on the bench, you want to get involved in the game as quickly as possible and, probably for any player but especially for forwards, the best way to do that is to score a goal so, when actually the opportunity came so quickly, it was beautiful.”