Gareth Southgate puts England through their paces ahead of Germany

Gareth Southgate put his England players through their paces on Sunday afternoon ahead of a fixture with Germany that is far more than a dead rubber.

Although England’s relegation from the top tier of the UEFA Nations League was confirmed by Friday night’s 1-0 defeat to Italy, Monday’s fixture at Wembley represents the last chance for Southgate to fine-tune ahead of the World Cup.

The tournament in Qatar is now just eight weeks away and England’s sub-standard performance in Milan suggested Southgate still has plenty to work on in terms of both team selection and tactics.

Southgate speaks with Eric Dier, Harry Kane and Harry Maguire at Tottenham’s training base

Captain Harry Kane was left scratching his head at one point ahead of the Germany fixture

England are winless in their last five matches, losing three of them, in what is their longest run without a win since 2014 and their worst sequence in competitive matches since 1992.

Southgate’s side have also gone 495 minutes without a goal from open play, with Harry Kane’s penalty in the reverse fixture against Germany in Munich the only goal they’ve scored in this dismal Nations League campaign.

They are in desperate need of a pick-me-up in Monday’s clash with Germany to boost spirits ahead of their World Cup opener against Iran at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha on November 21.

Southgate tried to do just that as he chatted and laughed with his players during training at Tottenham Hotspur’s base on Sunday afternoon.

Southgate laughs as Harry Maguire speaks with Harry Kane and Eric Dier watching on

James Ward-Prowse, Mason Mount, Ben Chilwell and Declan Rice watch the ball on Sunday

England are in urgent need of some optimism with the World Cup only eight weeks away now

It came after the man who guided England to a World Cup semi-final in 2018 and last year’s European Championship final insisted he remains the right man to lead the national team forward.

‘I think I’m the right person to take the team into the tournament. It’s more stable that way, without a doubt,’ he said.

‘I don’t think that the performance [against Italy] was far off and I know that will get derision just because we are on the back of a run of defeats.

‘The players know that, in the main, the performance [against Italy] was good. We’ve got to be decisive in the final third. 

Nick Pope reaches for the ball during Sunday afternoon’s training session at Tottenham

Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale reaches out to stop the ball during a training exercise

Southgate has plenty to ponder after a disastrous UEFA Nations League campaign for England

‘We’re not managing that at the moment and that’s a head-scratcher, given the quality of the players and the positions they got themselves into.’  

Southgate added: ‘Normally, you go into the World Cup on the back of a qualifying campaign that’s relatively comfortable, some friendlies you hand pick and a couple of weaker friendlies to keep your fitness levels.

‘We’re on the back of Germany twice, Italy twice and a Hungary team that have been exceptional. So we’ve had far more difficult games and we haven’t managed to win those games.’

Jack Grealish jogs as he pushes for a starting place on Monday having come on against Italy

Bukayo Saka (middle) played as a left wing-back in San Siro but to limited effect 

Jordan Henderson and Jude Bellingham are pictured during Sunday’s training session