England's Eric Dier 'grateful' for free-kick responsibility

England’s Eric Dier admits he was pleased to be given the trust to take a free-kick in Saturday’s Euro 2016 opener with Russia.

The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder was perhaps a surprise set-piece candidate before the game, but when he stroked England in front during the second half it looked to have set the Three Lions on their way to victory.

But a late header from Russian veteran Vasili Berezutski ensured it finished all square to leave Group B wide open with two games remaining.

Now, England are preparing to face Wales in Lens on Thursday afternoon and Dier is still relatively speechless about the way in which he registered his second goal for the Three Lions.

"I don’t really know what to say about it," he admits. 

"It was crazy when I scored, it’s a thing that you dream about as a kid really, scoring at a European Championship, especially being on the side where our fans were.

"It was an unbelievable feeling and one that I won’t forget for a long time."

Despite the former Sporting Lisbon man not taking a single free-kick for Spurs this season, it didn't come as too much of a surprise to anyone in the squad.

Dier celebrates his free-kick against Russia in their Euro 2016 opener in Marseille

He’s been a regular on free-kick practice during his time with the Under-21s over the last few years and has since caught the eye of the senior group with his efficiency.

"I’ve just been practising them a lot during the time I’ve been away with England, and it’s something that I’ve always enjoyed doing since I was little," he revealed to UEFA.com.

"We have Christian Eriksen at Tottenham, who’s quite prolific from free-kicks and scores a lot of goals, so I don’t really have any complaints there. 

"But thankfully I got the chance here and I took it. 

"Obviously Wayne [Rooney] took the first one, so I think he put his trust in me, he’s seen what I can do during the weeks of being together and I’m grateful for that.

"And thankfully I scored, it could’ve been different if I’d missed, lots of people probably would have been judging that decision, but thankfully it went well.

"More and more now in football, they’re [set-pieces] a massive part of it, I think that since I’ve started watching the Euros, I’ve seen so many goals from set pieces.

"I’m sure there’s probably more than 50 per cent of the goals have been from set pieces, so they’re a massive part of football nowadays.

"And every team is so competitive, every match is so competitive, it’s the small details like that that can make a massive difference, so they’re a huge thing and obviously they do deserve our time."

Roy Hodgson’s squad have been back at work and fully focused on their next game at the base in Chantilly this week.

With the majority of the Wales squad being more than familiar to the England squad, Dier says they know what they’re up against.

But the end target remains the same, regardless of the initial disappointment at Saturday’s draw with Russia.

"It’s a game we have to win, no matter what the result was against Russia, so that’s the mentality we’re going to have," explained the 22-year-old. 

"I don’t think our mentality has changed because of the draw, we have to win no matter what, so I don’t think that game really had anything to do with it, no. 

"We’re looking at dealing with Wales as a team, not as any individuals. Obviously he’s [Gareth Bale] a fantastic player, but Wales have lots of other good players so we’re not giving any one person special attention.

Dier and his Spurs team-mate Dele Alli during training in Chantilly

"They’ll be well organised and we have to fight Wales as a team, not just one man.

"We know obviously it’s going to be a fantastic atmosphere - it’s one of the smaller stadiums but at the same time it should be a great atmosphere.

"I think you might see a game which is a bit less of an international game, and more of a British football game, like you might see in the Premier League, because of the players and teams involved.

"So that will be interesting for everyone to watch, and it will be something different in the tournament."