England vs Slovakia: Gary Cahill wants teams to be more adventurous against them

Gary Cahill believes England will be better off against opponents who want to be more adventurous against them as it would open up spaces for them to exploit, something they did not have against Slovakia when the teams met on Monday, 20 June. The game ended in a 0-0 draw, with the Three Lions still struggling to find the finishing touch.

This cost them dearly in their opening two games against Russia and Wales, where they were kept out for major parts of the fixture. They eventually came out winners against their arch rivals Wales courtesy of an injury-time goal by Daniel Sturridge while drawing 1-1 against the Russians.

Cahill was appreciative of his team's performance, stating that they must have done something right if teams are willing to stand behind the ball and allow them to create trouble in their penalty box. The draw leaves them second in the group, facing a potentially daunting opponent in the round of 16.

"Credit to them, they worked very hard," Cahill said of Slovakia, as quoted by Goal. "You almost want someone to come and play against you a bit more. They brought on a sub to sit in front of the back four, it showed we're doing something right."

Jamie Vardy, who started the game following his goal against Wales, was not allowed to operate while Harry Kane, coming from the bench, failed to have the influence he had for Tottenham last season. Slovakia sat deep and prevented England from creating any opportunity that could be potentially dangerous in and around the penalty area.

However, the Chelsea man refused to attribute their lacklustre performance to the changes made to the side. The England manager made six changes against Wales, including dropping Wayne Rooney, who came in place of Jack Wilshere in the second half.

"I think tonight the changes [were] probably brought on from [a need for] freshness but also the confidence he has in the team and the confidence we have that he can make the changes without altering the performance," he added.

"And I think [judging] by our dominance in the game it didn't affect that. We didn't get our goal tonight. If we did it would be a different story."