England have disappointed but more to come - Southgate

England are capable of playing at a much higher level, manager Gareth Southgate said after conceding his side have failed to impress in their opening two Euro 2024 matches.

Southgate's team were held to a 1-1 draw by Denmark on Thursday having narrowly beaten Serbia 1-0 in their Group C opener.

Harry Kane's first-half strike for the Euro 2020 runners-up was cancelled out by Dane Morten Hjulmand's long-range strike and England once again failed to create the kind of chances their talented forward line promises.

"Clearly, we're disappointed with the level of the two performances we've had, so we've got to go and analyse that in depth and find some solutions to addressing the issues that we have," Southgate told a press conference.

"We know the level can be higher. Maybe the biggest thing is we have to accept the environment that we're in and the expectations that are around us. 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."

England have never won their opening two group matches at a European Championship and also had four points from their first two games of Euro 2020 when they went on to reach the final.

Southgate conceded the issues could be down to an imbalance in the available line-up.

"It's clear in terms of the balance of the team that we don't have our best left back (Luke Shaw) available. So that denies you the opportunity for that balance," he added.

"But I think Tripps (Kieran Trippier) has done an incredible job for the team. His spirit, his organisation, his desire, have helped us get over the line in the last two games."

The match in Frankfurt took place on a pitch that appeared to cut up easily and England defender Kyle Walker had to change his boots early on due to losing his footing on the turf.

Southgate refused to use that as an excuse for his side's lethargic display.

"We can't be making any excuses for the level of the performance, so we have to accept responsibility. We noticed this pitch did cut up the other day in the game we were watching the other day (Belgium v Slovakia)," he said.

England top Group C on four points, ahead of Denmark on two, and should still reach the knockout stage. They play Slovenia next while Denmark take on Serbia.

Not what we were looking for today, but we're a point closer to qualification 👊

— England (@England) June 20, 2024