Steven Gerrard has claimed that a handful of players within the England team would have been worrying about the imminent criticism during their Euro 2016 exit.

The Three Lions crashed out of the tournament at the last-16 stage on Monday night when they were beaten 2-1 by Iceland, who have a population of just over 300,000.

Wayne Rooney put England in front with a fourth-minute penalty, but defensive and goalkeeping blunders from Joe Hart resulted in Iceland taking the lead.

Less than an hour after the defeat, manager Roy Hodgson announced his resignation, and Gerrard, who is a former England captain, has now given an insight into how the players would have been feeling during the match.

"When England went behind, many of those players will have been thinking of the consequences of defeat as much as what to do to get back in the game," the former Liverpool skipper wrote in The Telegraph. "I hate to say it, but your mind drifts to what the coverage is going to be like back home and the level of criticism you are going to get. You cannot stop yourself. 'What if we don't get back into this? What will it be like if we go out here?'

"Panic sets in. The frustration takes over. You freeze and stop doing those things you know you should be. You start forcing the game, making the wrong choices with your passes, shooting from the wrong areas and letting the anxiety prevent you from doing the simple things.

"It is all very well for the media to shake their heads at that and say we should be stronger and more level-headed in those situations but there is a weight of history to contend with. It has become a massive burden. When calm heads were needed out there, everyone was looking at each other hoping someone was going to pull something out the bag for us. Very few were capable of taking on the responsibility."

Meanwhile, reports have claimed that USA head coach Jurgen Klinsmann is interested in succeeding Hodgson.

Written by
Danielle Joynson