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Five things we learned from England's draw with Scotland

Five things we learned from England's draw with Scotland
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England captain Harry Kane was not at his best but Billy Gilmour impressed for Scotland.

England and Scotland played out a hard-fought goalless draw in their Euro 2020 Group D clash at Wembley.

The result leaves England still needing to beat the Czech Republic on Tuesday to top the group and keeps alive Scotland's hopes of joining the Auld Enemy in the last 16.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the key lessons learned from the stalemate.

Scotland rise to the occasion

Scotland celebrate
Scotland earned a draw at Wembley (Nick Potts/PA)

Having been largely second best in defeat to the Czech Republic at Hampden Park on Monday afternoon, Scotland were much better here.

Cheered on by a boisterous following of some 2,000 fans in the corner of Wembley, Steve Clarke's side were clearly not put off by their underdogs tag.

A string of strong performances, including from fit-again Kieran Tierney, proved enough of a match for the hosts and the draw still gives Scotland a slim chance of making it out of Group D.

Strained Kane

Harry Kane leaves the field
Harry Kane was not at his best (Mike Egerton/PA)

England captain Harry Kane was once again on the periphery as the Tottenham striker struggled to make an impact on the game.

The World Cup golden boot winner had the fewest touches of anyone on the pitch before being replaced by Marcus Rashford for the final 16 minutes.

His lack of involvement and goal threat will be of concern to both player and manager and will need to be addressed if England have designs on going deep into the tournament.

Southgate's Young Lions

Phil Foden takes a shot
Phil Foden was among the young England stars in action (Nick Potts/PA)

With history and tradition among the main talking points ahead of the clash, England boss Gareth Southgate very much named a starting XI based in the here and now.

The team that kicked off against Scotland had the youngest average age of any England side to ever start a game at either a European Championship or World Cup.

At an average of 25 years and 31 days, most of the team were only just born when England and Scotland clashed at Euro 96 let alone being able to recall the fixture.

Billy the Kid

Billy Gilmour holds off Mason Mount
Billy Gilmour impressed for Scotland (Mike Egerton/PA)

While Southgate named a youthful side, it was arguably Billy Gilmour who was the most impressive youngster on the pitch.

The Chelsea midfielder was making his full debut for Scotland and caught the eye with his calmness and cool head in a challenging part of the pitch.

Gilmour, 20, is highly-rated at Stamford Bridge and Scotland supporters were irked by the fact he did not start the opening Euro 2020 fixture – although his performance here should see to it that he stays in the side.

Joint anti-racism stance earns applause

England and Scotland take the knee together
England and Scotland took the knee together (Mike Egerton/PA)

Scotland's players joined England in taking the knee ahead of kick-off in a stance of solidarity against racism.

While the England squad have seen the gesture jeered by a minority of supporters of late, Scotland have been standing against racism before games.

The two squads took the knee here and there were no audible boos as a raucous crowd cheered their respective teams as a whole.

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England and Scotland take the knee ahead of kickoff at Euro 2020 on June 18, 2021
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