Rice passionate defence of under-fire Southgate after last-gasp Slovakia heroics

DECLAN RICE passionately defended Gareth Southgate following England's 2-1 win over Slovakia.

The Three Lions just about managed to book a spot in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals thanks to late goals from Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane.

Ivan Schranz fired Slovakia into an unprecedented 1-0 lead midway through the first half.

England struggled to find a breakthrough, but managed to equalise thanks to a last-gasp Bellingham bicycle kick.

It then took just a few minutes for Kane to complete the comeback in extra time.

Southgate faced criticism from England fans inside the stadium and on social media for the performance.

But Rice was eager to jump to the manager's defence at full-time.

He told BBC Sport: "There's that inner-fight and spirit in us, a few Slovakian players before the game said we didn't have.

"We've got that togetherness. We proved that tonight.

"We'll die for each other out there. We'll do anything to protect this manager, to protect each other.

"Keep going, keep fighting. And what we've got as a group tonight I think showed out there.

"It's an honour to be a part of it. We're going to keep going, we're going to keep giving it everything."

England qualified for the last-16 after topping Group C with five points from a possible nine.

The Three Lions beat Serbia 1-0 before dropping points to Denmark and Slovenia.

Some fans threw plastic cups at Southgate following the Slovenia match, which ended goalless.

In response, the manager said: "I understand it. I'm not going to back away from it. The most important thing is we stay with the team. I understand the narrative towards me.

"That’s better for the team than it being towards them but it is creating an unusual environment to operate in. I’ve not seen any other team qualify and receive similar. I’m not going to back away from it."

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