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Marcus Rashford hails improved team spirit in England camp

Rashford hails improved team spirit
© Reuters
Marcus Rashford says that he and his England teammates are relishing the chance to put things right in Russia following their humiliating Euro 2016 exit.

England striker Marcus Rashford has admitted that the mood in the camp "is a lot calmer" for the 2018 World Cup compared to two years ago.

The Three Lions kicked off their campaign in Russia with a 2-1 win over Tunisia on Monday thanks to a last-gasp header from captain Harry Kane.

Rashford was part of the England squad that suffered a humiliating defeat to Iceland in the last 16 of Euro 2016, but the Manchester United ace insists that he and his teammates are relishing the chance to put things right.

"I think the mood around the camp is a lot calmer from what I can remember of that last tournament," he told reporters. "But I think that's as expected. We were all fairly new to each other in that tournament and now we've managed to build relationships and the team really is a team now.

"I think that only puts us in good stead for this tournament and future tournaments. The games that everybody can watch, all it is as an opportunity for us to showcase that and show everyone how far we've really come. Even if we draw that game, we stay calm and the next game is an opportunity to again showcase what we've been working on and get three points.

"I think that mentality has to stay because you're not going to win every single game and when you do lose or when you do draw, you have to learn from it. As a team we are capable of doing that and it doesn't really matter about the age of us or how experienced we are. I think if we have that togetherness we can all drag each other through."

England face Panama on Sunday afternoon in their second Group G outing, aiming to seal their spot in the knockout stage with a game to spare.

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