'I'm not' - Newcastle United star Anthony Gordon gives refreshingly honest message to England supporters

The result guaranteed England’s progression to the last-16 as group winners but once again the level of performance from Gareth Southgate’s side left a lot to be desired. Gordon had not played any minutes in England’s opening two group games but came on as a late substitute in Cologne.

Despite his minimal time on the pitch, his splitting pass from deep led to one of England’s best chances of the game as Cole Palmer’s eventual effort was comfortably saved by Jan Oblak in the Slovenia goal.

When asked about remaining on the bench for the majority of the tournament so far as England have struggled in the final third, Gordon said: “It's frustrating because I want to play.

“I think every player here does. It's difficult because you've got so many good players. But watching from the sideline at any game, at any level, is hard.

“You just want to come on the pitch because you feel you can make an impact. I felt I did when I came on. I tried to get at people and be direct and cause problems in the few minutes I got. And I'll always try and do that."

England are yet to discover their opponents in Sunday’s last-16 match in Gelsenkirchen (5pm kick-off). It will be either the Netherlands or the third-placed side from a group containing Belgium, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine - who all play at 5pm on Wednesday.

And Gordon believes England will have to do ‘better’ if they want to progress through to the latter stages of the tournament.

"I think our aim was to make a statement and sort of correct the performance we've had in the past two games,” he added. “I still think we're in that place. I think we've still got to do better.

"I just think we can do so much better. That's the problem. We've got such good players.

“In training, we're so good every day. We do everything right. And then it's just not clicking. Hopefully in the coming games it will because we need to start really attacking teams and dominating games.

"I think we're controlling games really well, we keep the ball well, but that direct approach, causing problems and going for teams is probably what we're missing.

“And you see towards the end of the game [against Slovenia], we created a really good chance just from going for it and not worrying about losing the ball."

Despite progressing as group winners, England have been subject to criticism from supporters and pundits so far at Euro 2024.

Gordon has urged supporters to stick with the players but understands where the frustration comes from.

“I said to a couple of lads that the fans have been so impressive," said the 23-year-old. "They didn't really stop but again, we're not creating that many chances.

“So listen, I'm not gonna say don't be frustrated because you want to watch good football. Everyone does. But just stick with us. Because winning is the important thing."