Gareth Southgate wants his defenders, and John Stones in particular, to cut out moments of “stupidity” as England continue a process of learning to build from the back. Despite a string of errors in possession in Friday’s 3-0 win over Scotland, Southgate is determined to push forward with the move to a different way of playing — but signalled that he won’t indulge mistakes forever.

Stones was caught on the ball or gave it away under pressure on several occasions on Friday, and while Southgate is a strong supporter of theyoungster he expects him to make better decisions.

He has told Stones as much. “For years we have talked about not being able to play out from the back and if we are going to