Gareth Southgate pleased England had to 'suffer' after shaky Serbia win - 'Good for us'

England were the better side during the early stages of the match, with Bellingham central to things.

But Serbia were better after the first 30 minutes and posed a threat, with Jordan Pickford preventing Dusan Vlahovic from earning his team a draw.

Southgate has now spoken out in the wake of the victory in Gelsenkirchen.

And the England boss was pleased his side came through a tough test unscathed and with all three points to their name.

"They are a strong team. We had to suffer a bit which I think is really good for us," he said. "I think to defend the box the way we did was really good for us.

"I was really pleased with a lot of the play. Second half we didn't keep it as well as I would have liked but to get the win is very important."

On Bellingham, he added: "He writes his own script.

"The timing of his runs. It was a super bit of play in the build-up of his goal. I think all of our forward players looked really good.

"I am confident we will score goals. Playing against a back give it is not easy to create chances and we did.

"I liked the fact we had to suffer without the ball because that is an area we have worked on a lot this week.

"We were obviously much better than last week at doing that."

After another huge showing, Bellingham is very much the man of the moment.

His reputation as one of the world's biggest talents has been enhanced, with the former Birmingham and Borussia Dortmund star continuing to bask in the spotlight.

The midfielder was impressed by Serbia, who were plucky as they succumbed to defeat.

But Bellingham was pleased England were able to emerge victorious, despite not playing at their best.

"Good game. I thought they are a very tough side. Very robust, strong and a big group of lads and it was important that we prepared well," he said.

"The staff got it right. We prepared all week very well.

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"We knew the roles we had to do. We try to keep to our own standards and try to do our own job.

"It's important that we got off to a good start. Positive inside the camp and onto the next one.

"I have got used to getting into the box, getting wide and trying to do that.

"I got into that habit at Madrid and I wanted to carry my form into the Euros.

"It's a great start for me personally to get my confidence up and to help the lads get the win is the most important thing."

England are next in action against Denmark on Thursday (5pm).

The Three Lions previously beat the Danes 2-1 at Euro 2020, with Harry Kane scoring a dramatic late winner from the penalty spot.