Euro 2016: England attack will strike fear into any team, says Adam Lallana

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Simon Johnson17 June 2016

Adam Lallana believes England have a set of forwards to strike fear into all the other teams at Euro 2016.

Roy Hodgson’s men are full of confidence after coming from behind to beat Wales 2-1 in their second group game, with substitutes Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge on the scoresheet.

Marcus Rashford, who became England’s youngest player at a European Championship, also impressed off the bench, while Wayne Rooney shone once more in midfield. Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling have yet to hit peak form, but Lallana feels no one will want to face England’s attack in the competition.

He told Standard Sport: “England have shown we definitely have the strikers to cause any team problems in this competition. It’s a defender’s nightmare when you see Sturridge and Vardy coming off the bench. Of course, it would have been disappointing for Raheem and Harry to come off at half-time, but that happens.

“Sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture and it’s great when the team comes back to win a game like we did against Wales. We are all delighted.

“We’re in a situation where if it isn’t working for one, another can step up and that’s healthy. Competition for places is what you need. We have that in abundance here. Hopefully it will be a long tournament for us and, with the manager able to change players, it will help keep us fresh.

“The games will come thick and fast. We have another one on Monday against Slovakia, so if the manager wants to make a few changes, he has talented players that he knows can come in and make a difference.”

Having conceded a last-minute equaliser in their opening game against Russia, things looked grim for Roy Hodgson’s side when Gareth Bale put Wales ahead just before half-time. But England now top Group B following their stirring comeback after the break and Lallana says they have demonstrated the character required to pose a threat at Euro 2016.

“We have shown we can bounce back from adversity,” he said. “Some people will go the other way, but we thrive off that. We feel like we almost have nothing to lose when we need the next goal and we felt it was coming against Wales.

“If we’re in that situation again, we have proved to ourselves we can handle it. You need to keep calm when things aren’t going your way. We had a sucker punch against Wales, but we kept our composure and won.

“We just need to just take it one step at a time. We got the three points and that’s all that matters. We played well and drew against Russia and I would have preferred us to play badly and won. But beating Wales has put us in a good position moving forward to Slovakia.”

England know a victory against Slovakia will ensure they progress into the last 16 as group winners and Lallana claims there is no clear favourite to win the tournament.

“There is no stand-out team here because it’s a difficult competition,” he said. “All the teams are very well organised and make it very difficult for the opposition. That’s why you just have to keep plugging away and sometimes it takes until the 90th minute to get the decisive goal.

“There are always going to be a lot of late goals, especially when players are getting tired. Topping the group is not the be all and end all for us. Whoever we play is going to be difficult.”

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