Wrexham star James McClean aims fresh criticism at 'overrated' £100m man Declan Rice after dismal England held to draw by Denmark at Euro 2024

The Three Lions came away with a point from their clash with the Danes on Thursday to inch closer to the last 16 of the Euros, but were wholly unconvincing with their performance. During the interval, former Republic of Ireland winger McClean said the 25-year-old, who cost Arsenal £105 million ($133m) last summer, needs to do more than just "sideways and backwards passes".

He said on RTE Sport: "Denmark has won the midfield battle in that half. I made a comment yesterday (Wednesday) about Declan Rice, which people have got their knickers in a twist about, but for a £100 million player I want to see more than five-yard sideways and backwards passes. He attempted one forward pass in the half and it went straight into the keeper's hands. I want to see him do more, break lines, but in the midfield battle in the first half, Denmark won that very comfortably."

This comes a day after the former West Brom man said the ex-West Ham midfielder was "overrated" and not a world-class player. While this criticism may stick in Rice's craw, the manner of the performance against Denmark will be a cause for concern. However, England are still top of the group and in pole position to reach the knockout stages of the competition.

Gareth Southgate's England, who edged Serbia 1-0 in their tournament opener last weekend, round off their group stage campaign on Tuesday when they take on Slovenia - who have drawn both of their two fixtures so far.