Premier League player prepared to continue playing with England following his disappointment with Slovakia’s late appearance.

Ivan Toney was “annoyed” to be introduced by Gareth Southgate at the eleventh hour; however, he believes that this is a minor issue as England endeavours to “move forward” following their Euro 2024 fright against Slovakia.

As stoppage time ebbed away in the last-16 match on Sunday evening, the tournament hopefuls were mere moments away from an ignominious exit, reminiscent of the defeat to Iceland eight years prior.

Toney expressed his dissatisfaction when Southgate introduced him for his major tournament debut in Gelsenkirchen four minutes into added time; however, the late substitution proved successful.

The 28-year-old’s presence facilitated Jude Bellingham’s remarkable equaliser in the fifth minute of extra time. Subsequently, the Brentford striker skillfully headed the ball across for Harry Kane to secure a 2-1 extra-time victory.

When asked how Southgate was aware of his irritation, Toney responded, “I believe my expression conveyed it.”

“The manager has previously visited the location.” I am confident that there has been a previous occasion in which he has appeared in the 97th minute or later, and you have wished to have been on the pitch earlier.

“We are now friends; that is not to say that we were not friends before, but we are content and focused on the upcoming game.”

When prompted to reenact his mood as he prepared to enter the stage, Toney responded with a smile, “It was significantly worse than that.”

Toney acknowledges that “every player is going to have a bit of a hump” when they are not playing, but he also recognises that he had to “fix my mood” and strike reset before coming on, a process that Brentford’s sports psychologist has assisted him with.

“There is a guy named Michael Caulfield at Brentford who is always talking about controlling your emotions, and I feel like in that moment it was time to control your emotions,” he said.

“Yes, I was irritated; however, there are still 30 minutes left to play, and you must overcome your prevailing mood and concentrate.”

“I perceived that there was a significant amount more to contribute.” Football is played for 30 minutes, and it is imperative that each player contributes. I succeeded in doing so.

Caulfield was self-deprecating in his response to Toney’s comments, which he witnessed when his phone began to ring after Wednesday’s press conference.

He wrote on X, “At my club, there is a centre forward named Ivan Toney who frequently discusses scoring goals, creating opportunities for others, proving people wrong, and smiling at the doubters.”

Toney asserts that Caulfield’s primary recommendation is to “be prepared, be alert, and concentrate on the next moment,” which is precisely what England intends to implement following a rocky start to the Euros.

Southgate’s team bungled their way to the top of Group C before edging Slovakia to secure a spot in the quarterfinals against Switzerland on Saturday.

Toney stated, “There will always be expectations and a multitude of individuals who have their own perspectives.”

“They are entitled to it.” People will argue that it should have been three or four if we win 2-0. That is consistently the case. However, we are only two games away from a major final, and we must do the best we can, with the expectation that it will be sufficient.

When asked whether there was additional motivation to maximise the potential of the situation after approaching an early exit, he responded, “Certainly.” It was enlightening to realise that you could be proceeding home at any moment.

“The feeling of relief in the dressing room was akin to, ‘All right, boys, it’s time to get started.'” I believe that we possess the character and the calibre of individuals to accomplish this. We are optimistic that we will be able to accomplish this at this time.