The National Times - Carsley hails England's strength in depth as understudies sink Greece

England were hit by a rash of withdrawals before Thursday's Nations League clash in Athens, but Carsley's team made light of the star absences to keep alive their hopes of promotion to the tournament's top tier.

Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Phil Foden were among nine players to pull out of England's last two games of 2024 amid speculation they were encouraged by their club managers to miss the fixtures.

England captain Harry Kane launched a scathing attack on the stay-aways, insisting international duty should come before anything else.

Kane was surprisingly dropped to the bench by interim boss Carsley after his uncharacteristic outburst, but England were unfazed.

Kane's replacement Ollie Watkins gave them an early lead before Greece goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos deflected Jude Bellingham's shot into his own net.

Curtis Jones' audacious back-flicked effort wrapped up a win that put England top of Nations League Group B2.

They are guaranteed to win promotion to League A with a victory over Ireland at Wembley on Sunday.

But Carsley was more concerned with underlining the vast array of quality that former Bayern Munich boss Tuchel will inherit when he finally takes the reins on January 1.

"It is just important the players play to their strengths. We have got a lot of outstanding talent," Carsley said.

"The players who were not here, we concentrated on the ones that were.

"We spoke yesterday about players getting an opportunity, and we have seen that tonight.

"People were speaking about the inexperience within the squad, but these players play week in and week out in the Premier League at a really high level."

After losing to Greece for the first time ever at Wembley in October, this was a sweet moment for Carsley, who was widely criticised for a tactical gamble that backfired in that game.

- 'Moving in right direction' -

Chelsea winger Noni Madueke caught the eye in Athens with an assist for Watkins' opener and several other incisive raids, while Jones and Anthony Gordon also impressed.

Assessing England's long-term prospects, Carsley was encouraged by the victory, which was his fourth in five games as caretaker boss since replacing Gareth Southgate, who quit following the Euro 2024 final loss to Spain.

"It represents we are moving in the right direction," Carsley said. "I see the quality that the players have got.

"You're now seeing it in terms of the younger ones, that they're more than capable with the mentality and the quality that they've got to play in stages like tonight.

"There's a lot of positives. Think about the two wide players, Anthony (Gordon) and Noni (Madueke), so attacking, so direct. Curtis was outstanding tonight."

Carsley confirmed Kane would start against Ireland but made a point of praising Aston Villa striker Watkins for stepping in for his skipper.

"It was brilliant for Ollie to get a goal. It's important that I think if we are going to put these players in a position where we are going to go and win the World Cup then these players need to have as many experiences as they can," he said.

"So, it was no slight on Harry. He'll start the next game and I think a lot of positives to take from that performance."

Asked about Kane's reaction to being left on the bench until the 66th minute, Carsley said: "He was absolutely fine. It would be fair to say he wants to play every game, like all top players do.

"I think he understands that it's important that other players experience that kind of experience that we had tonight.

"He's a great example to the rest of the players and I expect him to start on Sunday and play well."

A.Wood--TNT