England eyeing Croatia victory to move on from World Cup heartbreak, says Gareth Southgate

By PA Sport

Image: Gareth Southgate has a simple message for his England players

Gareth Southgate has told his England players to forget their World Cup frustration and go for the jugular against semi-final foes Croatia in Sunday's crunch UEFA Nations League clash.

Just 130 days after breaking English hearts in Moscow, Zlatko Dalic's men arrive at Wembley for a winner-takes-all clash that will send the victor through to the inaugural Nations League finals next summer.

Relegation from the top tier awaits the defeated side, while a draw would see Spain top Group A4 despite losing 3-2 in their last two matches.

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Southgate's men also face relegation if the match ends in a score draw, but the England boss cares little about the permutations as victory is all that he is focused on.

"It's dead simple, really," Southgate said. "We win, we go to a semi-final and that's all we will focus on and everything else. We just go for it.

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"There's no point in hedging our bets that we might do this, we might do that, or we need a 0-0.

"We want to send our fans away with a performance that excites them, and we have got a chance to get through what's been a really strong group, so for me, we just focus on going for the win. I think for me it is about our team and now.

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England face Croatia in a winner-takes-all UEFA Nations League clash on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.

"We didn't get over the line in the summer, and we want to try to prove that we have learned from that, and have improved from the summer, and we play a team which we hugely respect with real competitors and warriors."

England captain Jordan Henderson agreed with Southgate as he feels "they should not look upon the game as a revenge mission".

He said: "I think you have got to move on in football. It is about development, it is about us as a team and it is not about anyone else.

"I think deep down you will always have it in the back of your mind because it is a huge moment for all of us to lose that game.

Image: Jordan Henderson in action for England in Croatia in their 0-0 draw last month

"It is always inside but I feel as though since then we have bounced back brilliantly, won some big games, some good games especially in the last camp.

"So it is another big test for us, it is another good side - they have just beaten Spain - a fantastic team, it will be tough Sunday so we have just got to make sure we keep going, keep working hard and keep doing the right things and if we do that we will get the right result."

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