There’s work to be done – Declan Rice demands improvement from England

Declan Rice admits “there is work to be done” if England are to win Euro 2024.

Gareth Southgate’s side slipped to a surprise 1-0 defeat by Iceland in their final warm-up friendly at Wembley on Friday night.

Neither the result nor the performance was ideal preparation for England’s bid to win a first major trophy in 58 years, with swathes of supporters leaving before full-time, when a large number of those still in attendance jeered the hosts.

England’s campaign kicks off against Group C rivals Serbia a week on Sunday and Rice knows improvements are required if the Euro 2020 runners-up are to go far this time around.

“There’s work to be done,” said the Arsenal midfielder.

“When you have that much of the ball, have a couple of clear-cut chances, and get beat 1-0 at home just before the Euros it isn’t ideal.”

Despite the unexpected setback, Rice believes the game can still provide England with plenty to think about as he picked out the positives.

The 25-year-old was the most experienced player left on the pitch at full-time and insists England will be raring to go in Gelsenkirchen.

“I’m going to take the positives,” he told englandfootball.com

“There were a lot of promising performances, we played with a good tempo, always tried to play forward. We have to be a little bit more savvy.

“It’s not ideal we lost but there are good learning curves we can build on as a team.

“Every game is another chance to get better and we’re going to be more than ready for Serbia.”