England boss Gareth Southgate picks out Chelsea and Crystal Palace stars after Bosnia and Herzegovina win

England boss Gareth Southgate picked out Crystal Palace duo Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton as well as Chelsea’s Cole Palmer and Conor Gallagher when asked about individual performances following England’s 3-0 friendly win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Three Lions broke the deadlock in the 60th minute at St James’ Park when Palmer converted from the penalty spot. Trent Alexander-Arnold and substitute Harry Kane added to the scoring in the final five minutes.

“I’m pleased with the intensity of the game firstly,” said Southgate after the match. “It was an important game for all of the players in terms of the physical aspect, also to play against a back five which is something we could well face in the first couple of matches. 

“We needed to find solutions to that, a team that had a threat on the counter attack so we had to be vigilant in the way that we played. At the start and at half-time we just had to be patient really and get the ball into Cole in particular a little bit earlier.

“If you keep pacient, keep probing as you are, with a little bit more quality than we showed in the first half, then the game will open up. I think in the end the scoreline reflected the performance and that was fair.”

On individual performances, Southgate also picked out substitute Wharton, who played in a central midfield role while Arsenal’s Declan Rice was left on the bench.

“Individual performances I think there were numerous good ones,” Southgate added. “I would imagine Eberechi Eze has caught the eye, the way he started the game and the way he glides with the power that he shows. I thought Conor Gallagher was an important performance for us given how important Declan’s role is. I think Conor’s work with the ball has improved. We know what he can do without the ball but I thought he played with real maturity tonight.

“The first goal with Cole Palmer. I thought Adam Wharton also showed what he’s been doing, what we’ve seen at the end of the season and in training. He sees pictures early and can play forward. It’s obviously very early for him but lovely that he got as comfortable as he did.

“A team which didn’t have a lot of caps on the field when we started but people showed they can feel comfortable in an England shirt pretty quickly and that was lovely to see.”