On the day with so much focus on departures and arrivals, England were held up on their flight out of Luton into Malta, eventually touching down an hour late after issues with air traffic control. Nothing could distract Gareth Southgate from his main ambition here and in the future with England, encouraging his players to be “brave on the ball”. Having trained at St George’s Park in the morning, Southgate and his players eventually went for a walkaround at the Ta’ Qali stadium after 9pm. England fans had arrived far earlier, cramming the bars around St Julian’s Bay in particular, one of them downing a bottle of wine in one to cries of “easy, easy”. Others piled into the cheap local Cisk beer while business…

Source: The Times August 31, 2017 23:03 UTC