England manager Gareth Southgate has said that he agrees with the decision not to hold a homecoming parade for his squad.
England defied all expectations to reach the semi-finals of this summer's World Cup in Russia and could still record their best finish since 1966 if they beat Belgium in Saturday's third-place playoff.
The squad will return home to Birmingham on Sunday, but the Football Association has confirmed that there will be no parade despite holding one the last time England reached the semi-finals in 1990.
"I mean, the reality is it's not actually my decision [not to hold a parade], but I agree with the decision. I think if we make the final, maybe it's different. I must say the support we've had from home and the feeling of support is immense," Southgate told reporters.
"To have been able to make a difference is something that will live with us all forever, so we can tell the way that the country has united behind football and that's maybe more important than the performance in some respects. But if we have a parade, that would have been one part of the country and we represent the whole country as well.
"The feeling we have is we're proud and we hope that - come our matches in September - that warm feeling about international football will be there again. We're very proud but we haven't won in the end and there is, I guess, a balance of all of that."
England have already lost to Belgium once at this summer's World Cup, going down 1-0 in their final group game.
Barney Corkhill
