London: Interim England manager Gareth Southgate says he has proved his worth and wants his future at the helm decided swiftly.
Southgate’s comments came after two late Spain goals denied England victory in a friendly on Tuesday, marking the end of his four-game stint at the helm.
During his tenure, England won two games and drew two, scoring seven goals and conceding two.
“I’ve proved I can manage big matches... I can tactically, with the help of my staff, prepare a team to play against a top side and give them a tough test,” he told reporters after the 2-2 draw at Wembley.
The 46-year-old, who was handed temporary charge after Sam Allardyce was sacked on September 27, said he had introduced stability to the team after England’s disappointing European Championship campaign.
“I took over at a moment of instability for everybody, and we’ve brought stability back and built a platform for the team,” he added.
“Without doubt, the longer you work with any team, with any group, you have the chance to embed more ideas, review each game and learn from it. The players are bullish about how they want to play.”
Southgate, who was in charge of England’s under-21s before being elevated to senior manager, urged the English Football Association to decide his future quickly.
“We’ve got a European Under-21 Championship next summer... so I need to know where I’m going to park my car for the next few weeks,” he said.
An Adam Lallana penalty put England ahead in the 9th minute, before Jamie Vardy doubled the lead soon after the interval, but Spain debutant Iago Aspas reduced the arrears in the 89th minute before substitute Isco squeezed an equaliser past England goalkeeper Tom Heaton in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
England’s next game is a friendly against Germany in March.
Spain manager Julen Lopetegui said: “We were missing quite a few players through injury, so it was quite an inexperienced defence.”
Tormer Porto coach, who also gave a debut to Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera, added: “We knew England were very, very fast on the break. The poor lads at the back, Nacho and Martinez, it was an ugly game for them.
“They were always going to suffer against the speedy England forwards, but they reacted well in the second half and coming out with a draw at the end was a real credit to the defence.”
Overall, Lopetegui drew positive conclusions.
“The main thing is we showed the character to come back from a 2-0 deficit,” he said.
“We did what was necessary to come back in a difficult game. Hopefully they can apply what they learnt tonight in the more important competitive games ahead.”
International friendly results on Tuesday:
Russia 1 Romania 0
Malta 0 Iceland 2
Hungary 0 Sweden 2
Ukraine 2 Serbia 0
Czech Republic 1 Denmark 1
Austria 0 Slovakia 0
Italy 0 Germany 0
Northern Ireland 0 Croatia 3
England 2 Spain 2
France 0 Ivory Coast 0
