Gareth Southgate: England have "learned a lot" from friendlies

England manager Gareth Southgate has declared himself "really pleased" with his side's performances during their spring friendlies.

The Three Lions extended their unbeaten run, now spanning eight matches since a 3-2 friendly defeat to France last summer, by beating the Netherlands and drawing with Italy.

Tuesday night's 1-1 tie with the Azzurri carried a twinge of disappointment for England, as they conceded a late penalty after controlling the vast majority of the second half at Wembley Stadium.

Southgate is happy to have been given a chance to further experiment with various personnel, however, with just two more games to play - against Nigeria and Costa Rica - before the World Cup begins.

"There have been some strong performances from individuals that have cemented - not their place in the squad, 19 or 20 of those were pretty clear - but it's often who are the next ones in if we get a problem in a particular area," he told reporters after the match.

"The things we've tried, we've learned a lot. What's really pleased me is the guys are solving problems on the pitch themselves - changes of formation from the opposition, patterns of working their way through different pressing tactics."

Southgate must name his provisional 35-man squad by May 14, before whittling that down to 23 players by June 4 at the latest.