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• 'Hopefully I'll be going back to the Under-21s' – Carsley casts doubt on England prospects

  Lee Carsley suggested he would be happy to go back to coaching England's Under-21s in the wake of the Three Lions' defeat to Greece.

  England lost to Greece for the first time as a double from Vangelis Pavlidis, who netted the winner in second-half stoppage time, claimed a famous 2-1 victory for the visitors at Wembley.

  Jude Bellingham had slammed in an 87th-minute equaliser, which was England's first shot on target since the third minute of Thursday's Nations League match.

  Interim manager Carsley, who led the Under-21s to Euros glory last year, picked an attacking line-up that featured Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka, but without a recognised striker in the absence of Harry Kane, England floundered.

  While the match stats were not overly in Greece's favour, with both sides having an equal number of shots and England actually creating more big chances (two to one), but the visitors did have three goals disallowed for offside.

  England's sorry performance sparked debate over Carsley's long-term suitability for the job of replacing Gareth Southgate on a permanent basis, and after the match, the former Republic of Ireland international said: "I was quite surprised after the last camp in terms of [reading] the job is mine and it is mine to lose and all the rest of it.

  "My remit has been clear. I'm doing three camps. There's three games left and then hopefully I'll be going back to the Under-21s. It has had almost no impact."

  Asked if he did not want the England job on a full-time basis, Carsley added: "I said at the start I wouldn't rule myself in or out, that's still the case.

  "I'm more than comfortable in my position. The remit was clear. I'm comfortable and confident with that.

  "After the first camp I didn't get too excited. I'm very aware that this job is one of the best jobs in the world. You've actually got a chance of winning. That's still the case."

  Greece, meanwhile, dedicated their win to George Baldock, the former Sheffield United full-back who died at the age of 31 earlier this week.

  "It was a very special day and match for us. Our thoughts are with George," said Pavlidis, who scored his first goals for Greece since June 2022 against Cyprus, ending a run of 14 games without a goal for the national side.

  "We are professionals and had to play the match. We gave our soul for him tonight. Today is not a day to talk about football. He was part of our team. We will miss him very much.

  "Also to wish strength to his family and not talk about football. The whole day was numb. We won tonight and don't want to celebrate. There are just no words."

• Record-breaking Root is England's 'greatest ever', says Pope

  Ollie Pope labelled Joe Root as England's "greatest ever batter" after the former Test captain helped inspire England to an emphatic win over Pakistan.

  Jack Leach took the three wickets England required on day five for the record-breaking innings and 47-run triumph, which handed the tourists a 1-0 lead in their three-match series.

  The win saw England become the first team in Test history to concede over 500 in the first innings, and still end up winning by an innings. 

  The turnaround was built on Harry Brook (317) and Root (262), as England amassed 823-7 before stand-in captain Pope declared, their highest total since 1938 and the fourth-highest in Test cricket history. 

  In the process, Root moved onto 12,664 runs in the longest format, seeing him surpass Alastair Cook (12,472) as England's all-time leading Test run scorer. 

  "What a player. I admire his consistency and longevity," Pope said of Root.

  "I think he is playing his best ever cricket. When he gets on a hot run, he makes it count, and he is England's greatest-ever batter.

  "He is a joy to be around in the changing room."

  While Root tallied up his highest Test score, Brook became the sixth England player to score a triple-century.

  Together, Root and Brook surpassed England's previous record partnership of 409 runs – set by Colin Cowdrey and Peter May against the West Indies in 1957.

  When Root, who is now England's record run scorer in Tests, eventually fell, it brought an end to a partnership of 454 - the fourth-highest in the history of the longest format.

  "From a personal point you want to put in those scores that's always the case for a batter, but it was a joy to watch the way Joe and Harry played," Pope said.

  "Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley were awesome too – it was a joy to watch, and they're great players."

  On the other hand, it was another humiliating defeat for Pakistan, who are enduring one of the worst periods in their history.

  Pakistan are now winless in their last 11 Test matches on home soil, but captain Shan Masood said England's impressive display is something his side can learn from.

  "Like I said, 220 in the third innings, depending on what kind of lead you have, can also be a good score," Masood said.

  "The trick for us is that we should learn from England as well, they found out ways to get those 20 wickets. You can't win Test matches without taking 20 wickets.

  "As a team, we have that second innings of batting to improve, but we must also take 20 wickets."

• Failed England experiment does not change anything, says Carsley

  Interim boss Lee Carsley insists the failure of his false-nine experiment in England's 2-1 Nations League defeat to Greece will not have any bearing on his future in the role.

  Carsley missed the chance to become the first Three Lions boss to win his first three competitive games at the helm since Fabio Capello on Thursday, as Greece left Wembley with a stunning victory.

  Vangelis Pavlidis scored twice – including a dramatic 94th-minute winner – as Greece went top of Nations League Group B2 with their first competitive victory over the Three Lions.

  With captain Harry Kane sidelined by injury, England lined up with no recognised striker, with Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer interchanging in a fluid system.

  England's 12 shots only added up to 0.86 expected goals (xG), with Bellingham's 87th-minute equaliser their only shot on target in the second half.

  "We were second best for a lot of tonight, it is disappointing. You are going to get setbacks, and it's important that we respond," Carsley told ITV Sport after the defeat.

   

  Only Anthony Gordon (five) managed more than four touches in the Greece area for England, with Bellingham, Foden and Palmer only recording one shot inside the box between them.

  Carsley, who has been placed in interim charge through to the end of next month's final Nations League fixtures, is choosing to view the defeat as part of a learning curve.

  "We tried something different and tried to overload the midfield. We tried it for 20 minutes, we experimented, and we're disappointed it didn't come off," he said.

  "It's unrealistic to expect too much, and we will have to try again. All the goals were from mistakes, which is disappointing.

  "It is definitely an option going forward. When you have someone of Kane's quality, though, it rules it out when he is available. 

  "But in the future, you have to have the courage and ability to try things. We tried something different. It doesn't change anything. My remit is to do the three camps."