Ian Wright blasts Gareth Southgate comments after England and Denmark draw - 'Don't believe that'

Yet Denmark were the better team and ended up securing a point through Morten Hjulmand, with the Sporting Lisbon star beating Jordan Pickford with a terrific low drive.

After the match, Southgate said there was no obvious replacement for Phillips - who was left out of the squad following a poor loan spell at West Ham.

The England boss also admitted he was 'experimenting' with Trent Alexander-Arnold in a midfield role, with the Liverpool star hooked for the second match in a row.

Yet Wright, speaking on ITV, has criticised Southgate for his comments - pointing to the likes of Adam Wharton and Kobbie Mainoo, who are both capable of making an impact.

"It's either Kobbie (Mainoo) or Wharton," he said.

"But I'd probably put Wharton in there simply because he's the closest I've seen to Fabian Ruiz.

"When I've seen him in the last few games for Palace at the end of the season, his calmness. He's calm, he's got a pass.

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"He's a very intelligent player and he's somebody that wouldn't panic in this situation. He's been picked in the squad.

"Listening to Gareth, he mentioned about Kalvin Phillips and he's the only one in the country who can play that role, I don't believe that.

"I believe Adam Wharton can play it. I think Kobbie Mainoo can play it as well.

"You've picked them. Now we're in a situation where it's not desperation because we've got four points, but we're in a place where we need something different, we need to change something."

England are the favourites to win Euro 2024, having made substantial progress ever since Southgate's appointment in 2016.

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There are fears over whether the 53-year-old is good enough to lead the side to glory, however.

England were flat against Denmark, outclassed by a team that showed more hunger and fight than themselves.

And their abject showing came just days after they'd battled to a tough 1-0 win over Serbia, with Jude Bellingham the matchwinner on that occasion.

Southgate fronted up and spoke to the media on Thursday and expressed a belief that his players were struggling with the weight of expectation on their shoulders.

“We know the level has to be higher, we know the level can be higher," he said.

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"Maybe the biggest thing is we have to accept the environment that we're in and the expectations that are around us. We are going to have to walk towards that challenge.

“At the moment we're falling a little bit short of that.

"Ultimately that's my responsibility. I'm the manager and I've got to guide this group in the best way possible. To achieve extraordinary things, you have to go through some difficult moments.

"Today was a difficult moment without a doubt, towards the end of the game, especially.

“But England have never won back-to-back qualification matches [at the Euros] I was told yesterday, so there's a reason for that and we hoped to write a different story today. We haven't managed that.

“We understand what that will mean for the next few days, but we have to stay calm inside the group and find good solutions to improve it.”

England are next in action against Slovenia on Tuesday (8pm).