Southgate hoping for extra home cheer in Burnley

The Three Lions face their first game on Thursday evening since sealing Euro qualification, when fellow Finalists Portugal are the visitors to Lancashire.

And with Clarets striker Danny Ings likely to be leading the line, along with Burnley loanees Nathaniel Chalobah and Michael Keane in the squad, Southgate wants to hear some extra home cheer. 

"I know how proud they were as a club when we first picked Danny and he got involved with us and they’re still proud of that fact," he said.

"A lot of my scouting trips have taken me there, looking at the likes of Danny and also the teams that have played against Burnley.

"We’ve got Nathaniel [Chalobah] and Michael [Keane] on loan there at the moment as well.

"It’s a friendly club and it was great to watch them go through their success very closely last season."

Southgate expects England will need that extra support too, with a hard game against the Portuguese in store.

Rui Jorge’s side won all ten of their qualifying matches to secure a spot alongside the Three Lions in Czech Republic next summer.

Ings will be back at his home ground on Thursday evening

And with them also being drawn out in the same group as England’s first opponents in the Finals next June, Southgate already has a fair idea of what to expect.

"We want tough tests and we knew Portugal were very strong through the qualifying campaign so we identified this as a fixture around eight months ago," revealed the head coach.

"It’s the sort of test that we want leading into the Finals, as our preparation starts now so the quality of the opposition is important.

"They have a couple of players that have moved up to their senior team this month, similar to ourselves.

"But there’s depth there and they are playing with a lot of confidence. They will pose a threat for our defence and possibly a different tactical system too."

Tickets for the game on Thursday costs just £10 for adults and £5 for juniors and are available on the evening via the Turf Moor ticket office. Call 01282 700003 for more details.

Watch the full interview with Gareth in the media player below.