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Gareth Southgate played down the significance of the England lineup being accidentally leaked by his assistant Steve Holland this week and insisted he does not expect journalists to be supporters of the national team. Holland was photographed holding a note which bore the names of what appeared to be Southgate's projected England team to face Panama on Sunday, suggesting he planned to bench Raheem Sterling for Marcus Rashford and start Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the absence of the injured Dele Alli. Southgate initially suggested that the leak had put England at a "disadvantage" heading into the match, sparking debate over whether or not the English media should have publicised the images. "I made quite a balanced observation yesterday which I'm told gathered quite a bit of momentum," he said in a news conference. "My view is I totally understand the media have a role to report news -- my only observation which I probably haven't worded properly is it's a definite advantage if the opposition know the other team. "I don't expect the media to be supporters of us in the way they work, they want us to do well, that's been clear throughout the tournament. It's not the job of the media to protect the team. I don't have a problem with that. "I'm relaxed. The team came out three days before the first game and I didn't say anything because it's something we can't control. "I understand a few of the guys [English media] have had a bashing on social media and I don't wish that on anyone as I have had it myself."
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Southgate also clarified that the leaked line-up is not the same as the England side that will face Panama. "There's no drama," he added. "The picture the other day wasn't even the team so it was even less of a drama, it was a list of runners and riders for the training session. I am totally relaxed." England have opted to remain at their base in Repino rather than train in Nizhny Novgorod ahead of the match, and Southgate added that he is prioritising his players' physical preparation over adaptation to the differing climates of the host cities. "We never trained at the stadiums before any qualifiers," he pointed out. "That's fairly typical for most of the teams. When I come to the FIFA workshops they were keen for us not to train to protect the pitches. "It makes sense for us to train early, recover and travel. It's more around the flow of the day, leave maximum time for physical recovery. "The heat is different in different parts of the country, we have to adapt to that."
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