James Maddison will learn from casino error, says England manager Gareth Southgate

Gareth Southgate believes James Maddison has learned the hard way about the intensity England players are under, after he was pictured in a casino after being released from international duty.

Maddison was initially selected for the England squad for the European Qualifiers against Czech Republic and Bulgaria but had to drop out after contracting a virus.

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Photos later emerged of him gambling in a Leicester casino, with the images alleged to have been taken at the same time Southgate’s men were playing in Prague on Friday night.

Southgate’s reaction was a typically measured one as he faced the media ahead of Monday’s Group A game in Sofia but he warned the 22-year-old – and England’s other younger players – about the pressure they will find themselves under, off the pitch as well as on.

“Once a player’s been released from the squad, then it is up to them how they spend their individual time,” said Southgate.

“I guess that what James has learned is that if you have an involvement with England, then there is an increased spotlight on you, and increased interest in your personal and private life as well.

“That goes with the territory. It’s a high-profile position.”

As for the Bulgaria game, Southgate has urged his players to bounce back from their defeat to the Czech Republic as they look to secure their Euro 2020 qualification on Monday night.

England’s 2-1 loss in Prague was their first in 44 matches in an impressive run that stretched back 10 years.

A frustrating performance against the Czechs – who they thrashed 5-0 at Wembley in their opening Group A European Qualifier – could conceivably affect confidence in the England camp.

But Southgate believes they are mature enough to reflect on the disappointment of that defeat and learn from their mistakes ready for the game in Sofia.

“I think we have a very honest group. They are very self-reflective,” he added.

“They know, they don’t need me to tell them when they haven’t played at the level they can.

“The key is always, OK, we have to recover quickly from the result. There’s no point us moping around and feeling sorry for ourselves. We all are responsible for the result.

“I am the manager, I take the ultimate responsibility and then we have to move forward and be prepared for the game.

“Slightly different sort of test but it’s a sort of different challenge for everybody because this young team hasn’t really experienced a night like that, where we’ve had a performance and a result that was unexpected.

“I don’t think defeats harm teams. If the reaction is good, then what you learn from defeats, what you gain in resilience from defeats, are an important part of a player’s career and a person’s life.

“Maybe we were all focusing a lot on next summer, talking a lot about next summer, answering questions about a home tournament and I’ve always maintained that the first thing is we have to qualify.

“We haven’t secured that qualification yet, so our focus tomorrow is to get the performance and the result that we need.”

(c) Sky Sports 2019: James Maddison will learn from casino error, says England manager Gareth Southgate