Shropshire Star

Stourbridge's Jude Bellingham hails England attacking options after Wales win

Jude Bellingham insisted England won the midfield battle against Wales - and showed just how good they can be in both boxes.

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Marcus Rashford scored either side of a Phil Foden strike as England struck three times in the second half to secure their passage to the last 16 - and dump out old rivals Wales at the group stages.

Gareth Southgate made changes for the game with Bellingham, who hails from Stourbridge, playing further forward and he again shone for the Three Lions.

And he believes England combined the best parts of their first two displays to beat Wales.

He said: "You saw in the first game how good we were in an attacking sense, in the second how well we defended our box and today we showed a bit of both to tie things up and it was a good performance from us.

"Winning the midfield battle was key, we had to show a high energy.

"We were not aggressive enough in the last game, we were too passive, so it was important for us to be on the front foot and that is what Hendo (Jordan Henderson) brings, he brings the intensity, we won a lot of balls high up the pitch to train pressure."

Rashford's free kick started things off in the second half - before Foden fired home from a Harry Kane cross minutes later.

The Manchester United striker then grabbed his second and third of the competition - and Bellingham paid tribute to both players, in particular Foden who has been in the media spotlight in recent days.

He said: "I am so happy for Marcus, what a performance. He had the freedom to take people on and his end product was so good, he deserved to be player of the match.

"We've got loads of attacking options, whoever comes on can make an impact whether they start or they are on the bench, the personnel does not effect the style which is quite rare.

"I'm happy for Phil he has had a bit of pressure over the last few days with the attention he has had but he has showed how good he is."