Tony Gale: 'England players were scared'

Former defender Tony Gale has criticised England's senior players for not stepping up during Thursday night's 2-1 defeat to Uruguay in Group D of the World Cup.

The loss means that England are almost certain not to qualify for the second round of the tournament in Brazil, and Gale said that he would have liked to see more players trying to make things happen on the pitch.

"Nobody seemed to want the ball and it was devoid of ideas," Gale told Sky Sports News. "It was like going back to South Africa four years ago. The boys need to accept some responsibility. You've got established players not accepting responsibility on the ball.

"Nobody looked like they wanted to make a name for themselves at this World Cup. At club level they are good players and they didn't show that yesterday. They pull the white shirt on and all of a sudden they look like rabbits in the headlights.

"This was a poor Uruguay side, they had a half-fit Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, who is a good player but the rest are pretty ordinary. We should have dictated the game and we should have won it but we didn't turn up."

England must now beat Costa Rica and hope that Italy win their remaining games to stand a chance of qualifying.