GRAHAM Alexander insists England will not be put off by any drama as they head into this afternoon’s second Euro game against Denmark.

Another win for the Three Lions in Frankfurt will see them qualify as group winners with a match to spare after Serbia’s stoppage-time equaliser against Slovenia.

Gareth Southgate’s men came in for criticism for their performance in the opening 1-0 victory over the Serbs on Sunday.

But City boss Alexander feels that will not concern Southgate.

“There’s a lot of drama around it,” said the former Scotland international. “They started well and deservedly won the game.

“There was obviously a drop off in the second half. But the team that’s getting beaten always has almost a free hit to go for it a bit more because they’ve got nothing to lose.

 

 

“When you see the other big teams like Italy and France having a struggle and obviously Belgium getting beaten, it puts it into perspective.

“It’s modern football. Everything is amazing or terrible in one game.

“If you go through to the knock-out rounds, nobody really remembers the first game.”

Denmark were held to a 1-1 draw by Slovenia in their opening outing and England start the 5pm showdown as firm favourites. But Alexander appreciates that it will not be straight forward.

“From my time playing for Scotland, we’ve come up against countries where you didn’t really know all their players.

“Because of that, people probably didn’t think they were on the same level as others.

“But when you’re out there, you realise that they are really good players and good teams, strong, fit and technically decent.

“It’s teams that win tournaments, not individuals. There are no poor teams there, there might be levels but they’ve all qualified through 18 months of hard work.

“You have to respect everybody. They’ve all got great ambition and motivation and are playing at the pinnacle of their careers."

England’s support will once again include a heavy travelling Bantams contingent with plenty jetting across from West Yorkshire to fly the flag.

Alexander added: “If you have the opportunity to go out there, why wouldn’t you? Even if it’s just basking in the atmosphere and you haven’t got a ticket for the game.

“I think it’s absolutely brilliant to see all those fans out there.

“I don’t think England have got anything to worry about, apart from the selection issues they had before.

“There’s so much attacking talent in the squad, it’s almost an embarrassment of riches. Everyone wants all the ones that are not playing to be in the team.

“It’s just defensively, even though they kept a clean sheet, you wouldn’t say it’s their ideal back four.

“But I’ve seen tournaments going way back when they’ve been won by a team that hasn’t necessarily been the best. They’ve ground out the results when needed.

“I don’t think Southgate would have been panicking after the first game. I think he’d have been quite content with the result but obviously there’s room to improvement.”