Gareth Southgate has admitted that England are significantly behind the leading European nations such as France, Germany and Spain and that there is no “magic wand” to bridge that gap.

Having played all three countries in friendlies in the past few months England have managed only a home draw with Spain before losing away to Germany – who they are due to face again this autumn - and, on Tuesday evening, away to 10-man France.

The defeat in Paris was by far the most disappointing with England taught a lesson by their opponents who played almost the whole of the second-half with a man fewer, after Raphael Varane was sent off in conceding a penalty, following a referral to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), but still dominated with a young team.

“Well, then it’s a big challenge then, isn’t it?” Southgate said when asked about the gap. “I said a few months ago that’s the reality of where we are as a country in terms of our teams.

“We’ve got some young players coming through that have got really good potential and can be exciting, but there is no shortcut. I am afraid there is no magic wand to that. But we are recognising where we are short, we are recognising where we can exploit teams. We’ve had some joy doing that. But our game without the ball has to improve.”