England boss Gareth Southgate has admitted that his team lacked 'calmness' in their 3-2 friendly defeat to France on Tuesday night.
Harry Kane levelled the scores at 2-2 from the penalty spot early in the second period after France centre-back Raphael Varane had been handed a straight red card for a last-man challenge on Dele Alli.
The Three Lions were unable to build on their one-man advantage, however, and it was France, who led 2-1 entering the half-time break, that secured the win courtesy of a 78th-minute strike from Ousmane Dembele.
Southgate has conceded that England "looked more anxious with 10 men", and the nation's head coach claims that he saw 'the good and the bad' during the 90 minutes in Paris.
"You have got to control possession and stay calm but I thought we looked more anxious with 10 men," Southgate told reporters.
"We just didn't manage that period of the game as well as we needed to, I thought we tired. We put in a huge amount of effort and it was a problem for us with their pace and athleticism.
"I think we should have got a result. In the space of 90 minutes we saw the things we are very good at, with the ball we caused a lot of problems and looked a threat and created good openings and took our first goal very well. On the other hand we have to get better as a team and at managing the game, especially when they went down to 10 men."
England will return to action on September 1, when they travel to Malta for a 2018 World Cup qualifier.
Matt Law
