Phil Neville has insisted that England's players will not be mentally scarred by the experience of a first-round exit at the World Cup, because none of them had a bad tournament.

The Three Lions were knocked out after two games, the first time that this has happened to any team representing England, but the former international defender has suggested that the disappointment of losing out in the group stage will not be too bad to take for this crop of talent.

He told BBC Sport: "This time, I don't think any of the England players will feel like they need to escape after a disastrous World Cup, because nobody has had one.

"There will be no mental scarring and nobody is getting the blame. The nearest we have had was with the scrutiny Wayne Rooney was under at the start of the tournament and after the Italy game, but I thought he was our best player against Uruguay.

"The players will probably still have an initial spell when they get home where they don't want to talk about football, or watch any of it. I always did."

After England face Costa Rica on Tuesday in Belo Horizonte, their next competitive game will be a Euro 2016 qualifier, away to Switzerland in September.

Written by
Chris O'Keefe