'Like chewing gum!' - Thomas Tuchel gives bizarre analogy to explain difficulty Andorra present for England in next World Cup qualifier

England recorded their lowest scoreline in seven meetings with Andorra when they met in Barcelona last June and received fierce criticism for their soporific display. And Tuchel has explained that facing a team only focused on defending is harder than it seems.

"It can feel a little like chewing gum to break a block down like this but we have to play with more energy and more enthusiasm and so far I'm sure we will," Tuchel told a press conference. "We always have to balance our expectations because Andorra is a well drilled team, I know it maybe sounds a little silly but that is the way it is, they know what they are doing after 8-10 years with the same coach."

The coach revealed that Harry Kane would start against Andorra on Saturday at Villa Park, an indication of how seriously England were taking the fixture even with the massive gulf in class between the two teams. And he said there was no risk of playing the captain and other big players three days before facing Serbia. "Yes. He starts. There is no balance, the competition is on and it is World Cup season," Tuchel said. "We have a condensed camp and that means we will start with the team that we trust and the best team possible and we will manage the second game. We will not do it backwards. We will not get caught up in experiments and everything that counts is today and tomorrow and then we will do our assessment after the match to see who is available. The players will start to play two matches a week after the international camp and I do not see a problem why they can't start that one week earlier and play on a Saturday and a Tuesday."

England have a full squad available for the game ag apart from John Stones, who has left the camp after an injury he arrived carrying failed to improve.

England will look to take a closer step towards qualifying for the 2026 World Cup with these two fixtures and the coach revealed that fans on the street are already telling him to win the tournament next summer. He said: "I get a lot of tips but always in a friendly manner. Most of them just say 'bring it home Thomas' and that is basically the task."