Jude Bellingham has taken aim at England critics, insisting they would have got ‘rubbish’ if they’d lost to Belgium on Tuesday.
The Three Lions went ahead at Wembley through Ivan Toney, who led the line in the absence of the injured Harry Kane.
A brace from Aston Villa star Youri Tielemans then had the hosts facing a second successive home defeat, however, having lost to Brazil on Saturday evening.
In the end, luckily for Gareth Southgate, Bellingham struck to earn England a draw.
Jude Bellingham claims England would have got ‘rubbish’ from certain corners if they had lost to Belgium at Wembley
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And the Real Madrid star has now come out fighting, insisting he was braced for negativity if they’d lost the fight.
Per Englandfootball.com, the 20-year-old said: “I liked [my equaliser] because I knew the rubbish we would’ve got if we had lost two games on the bounce.
“With these games, you have to keep perspective in mind because a lot of these lads are making debuts and a lot of these lads I have never played with before.
“We created a lot of chances. I had the one I should have scored and a couple of other chances. I am happy that I could make it up to the team.
“We should be winning with all the chance we’ve made – myself, Phil [Foden], Kobbie [Mainoo] – we all had chances.
“But these are two games that will stand us in good stead going into the Euros.
“I know people will be negative about it but we have to use the positives and learn from the negatives. We will be fine.”
Bellingham then proceeded to defend his team-mates, insisting they performed well at a time when many players are injured.
He feels Southgate has positives to take, despite England failing to win either of their two matches this international break.
And Bellingham has also lavished praise on his team-mates for stepping up in the absence of established stars such as Harry Maguire, Bukayo Saka and Jordan Henderson.
“You trust everyone that comes into the squad and they are all in there because they are good players,” he added.
“So we trust everyone who comes in.
“People need to realise how hard a job it is for the gaffer because you plan this size of games because you expect a fit team and you expect to give it a really good crack.
“The skipper is injured, Bukayo is injured, Hendo, Maguire, Walks, Stonesy… so it was a really difficult one for us.
“I’m sure the manager will be happy with the players he got to see because they came in and did brilliantly.
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Jude Bellingham has hailed England team-mates after they snatched a late draw against Belgium
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“Over the two games, I am pleased with my team-mates.
“Of course, you are never happy with a loss or a draw but we have to be pleased with how we played.”
Southgate, meanwhile, insists England didn’t deserve to lose against Belgium.
The 53-year-old also said his team dominated proceedings, with ‘poor goals’ costing them.
“I thought we controlled the game – possession tells us that – and we created a lot of chances so the piece of our game where the quality wasn’t there [against Brazil] was much better tonight,” he said.
Jude Bellingham netted his first goal at Wembley during England’s 2-2 draw with Belgium
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“Yes, we conceded poor goals and were vulnerable in the transition but that’s the trade-off we had with the profile of players on the pitch.
“I thought with the character shown, we really deserved to take something from the game.”
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
