Kobbie Mainoo responds to England boos after ‘humbling’ defeat against Iceland in final match before Euros

Kobbie Mainoo insists England’s confidence has not suffered a setback despite a ‘humiliating’ defeat to Iceland.

The Three Lions hoped to end their European Championship preparations with an impressive performance in front of the Wembley crowd.

However, Gareth Southgate’s men produced a disjointed performance as Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson’s first-half strike sealed victory for the visitors.

England were met with boos from disappointed supporters at the whistle, but Mainoo, who played the full 90 minutes, does not believe this will have any impact on the dressing room.

The Manchester United midfielder said: ‘Not at all! We know the quality we have in the dressing room and now we just have to show the fans that we are good enough and that we can compete in Germany.

Kobbie Mainoo insists England’s confidence has not been affected despite the negative reactions

‘I think it can be a good thing to go to a tournament after a defeat. We now have a point to prove ourselves because we know we are better and play much better football.

“It was humiliating and we have to come together now. We have a chip on our shoulder and need to come together and have the motivation now to go into that first game and prove a point.

“I think if we don’t win, we’re learning. Any opportunity to learn is a good opportunity and better now than in nine days.”

Meanwhile, Southgate admitted he ‘completely understands’ the negative reaction following the defeat, which leaves England going into next week’s opening match against Serbia having achieved just one win in five matches.

“I completely understand (the booing). We didn’t play well enough to keep them excited during the game,” Southgate said.

‘We had some very, very good chances that would normally have been cleared, which could have given a different color to the game and obviously affected the opponent’s confidence.

‘But that would have masked some shortcomings that were evident tonight. From my perspective, I learned a lot from the game.

“It does focus the mind on the fact that any complacency about that talent is going to get us this trophy and all we have to do is walk in… that’s not what football is like. You have to be perfect in every aspect of the game to win a game at this level and we fell well short of that tonight and Iceland deserved their win.

Gareth Southgate admitted he understood the crowd’s negative reaction at Wembley

‘But I have no problem with the reaction of the supporters. Of course it makes a huge difference to have the fans here with you, but you have to give them enough goal action, you have to play well enough, press and win the ball with intensity to keep them with you throughout the game.

‘It’s not the night we wanted, the performance wasn’t at the level it should be.

‘It’s far from an ideal evening. I’m not going to hide the disappointment, but we have to remain calm because we know what needs to be corrected.’