Gareth Southgate declared on the eve of his first game as permanent England manager that the national football team must learn from the German mentality and also abandon a blinkered island outlook, if they are to achieve the ultimate target of winning the World Cup, which he has set them.

The 46-year-old, who revealed that he is already implementing ideas from Eddie Jones’ record-winning rugby union team in his attempt to broaden thinking, said that the squad need the same mindset as Joachim Low’s players. “I think we can learn from their mentality,” he said. “When we’ve played German teams, they just have that belief in the way they play.”

He also warned against the narrowness of thinking which an island mentality can bring. “Look at Spain,” said Southgate, echoing comments he made at the weekend. “We're an island, we've got to get off the island and learn from elsewhere. We need to look in the mirror and change the way we do things tactically, physical preparation, our style of play and mentality.

England vs Germany: The key numbers Show all 8 1 /8 England vs Germany: The key numbers England vs Germany: The key numbers The numbers you need to know England renew hostilities with old rivals Germany in Dortmund on Wednesday. Here are the key numbers from one of international football's most eagerly-anticipated fixtures. AFP/Getty England vs Germany: The key numbers 30 Previous meetings between the sides. Germany lead by 14 wins to 13, with three draws. Getty England vs Germany: The key numbers 2 Germany's win tally includes two in penalty shoot-outs, at the 1990 World Cup and Euro 96. Bongarts/Getty England vs Germany: The key numbers 30 Years since the last home win in the fixture, 3-1 to the then West Germany team in Dusseldorf in 1987. Of the 12 meetings since, four have come in major tournaments in neutral countries and the other eight, including at Euro 96 on English soil, have been won by the visitors. AFP/Getty Images England vs Germany: The key numbers 23 Goals in the last six meetings, with each featuring at least three goals apart from Germany's 1-0 win at Wembley in 2013. Getty Images England vs Germany: The key numbers 9 The most goals scored in a match between the two teams, all the way back in 1938 when England won 6-3 in Berlin. Getty Images England vs Germany: The key numbers 4 The biggest winning margin in the fixture, in England's memorable 5-1 success in Munich in 2001. England vs Germany: The key numbers 3 The top scorers in the fixture have three goals apiece, in each case after scoring hat-tricks - England's Michael Owen in that 2001 game and Sir Geoff Hurst in the 1966 World Cup final, and Richard Hofmann for Germany in the first ever meeting in 1930.

“We've had success in every other sport in our country. We're probably the missing piece. We have some great strengths if we couple those with some other traits we could be more powerful than anybody but we have a lot of work to get to that point.”

The new permanent manager is without Manchester United’s Phil Jones – who was injured by a training ground collision with his club teammate Chris Smalling – and Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling as England seek their fourth consecutive win on German soil.

Confirming that he had told the players on Monday that the World Cup “has to be the ultimate aim because then that drives your behaviour,” Southgate said that Germany had a vital advantage over England in the that the Bundesliga supported the dFB German football association.

“We’ve probably got some work to do in terms of the connection between the dFB and Bundesliga is immensely strong and the opportunity for the young German players to play in the League, there is a real buy-in on that – partly because of the ownership model of the clubs.