Gareth Southgate is aiming to change the perception of English football as he sends his young, vibrant team out at the World Cup but has warned his players they must emerge from one of the toughest groups at the tournament if they are to achieve such lofty ambitions.

England kickstart their campaign against Tunisia at the Volgograd Arena on Monday night with an attack-minded side that will seek to monopolise possession and inflict damage on rivals ranked 21st in the world. The national side have won only five of their 26 opening games at major tournaments but Southgate says he has seen evidence of progress in his team’s approach in the period since qualification had been achieved as he implements a new style more akin to that adopted in the national junior sides.

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“I’m looking forward to watching the lads play because of the way they’ve trained and the way they played in the two matches leading in, as well as the matches in November and March,” said Southgate, who will start with nine World Cup debutants in a lineup that has been training together since Thursday. “We seem to be improving every time. The patterns of play are becoming more apparent and I like the movement and the way we’re shifting the ball. Normally what you see on the training ground is converted into the match. The intensity of competition is of a really good level and, if training isn’t like that, then standards could drop.

“In terms of how quickly I thought we could progress, I didn’t really know. We were certainly clear with what we wanted to do and that the players were capable. Once we had that vision, selection became a lot clearer. Every training session and what you’re trying to get out of it becomes clearer as well. The players have really embraced that. They like playing possession football. They’re all in top six clubs, really. That’s how they play at their clubs.

He added: “They have a hunger to press and win the ball back, and want to play brave football. They want to be a bold and attacking team. That’s how I feel we should play. That’s why I joined the FA as Under-21s coach, because I believed young English players could show something different. There was a perception of them across the world, a perception of English football, and I thought it was possible to change that. I’ve seen through our youth teams that’s started to happen. Now we’re looking to convert that to the senior team.

“I feel we’re creating a good team and a team the players want to work in as well. It’s very satisfying to see that progress. Then of course as a coach, in the end, externally you will be judged by your results. The results are an outcome of doing the right things every day.”

Yet if England are far from burdened by expectations in Russia, Southgate is conscious that getting out of Group G will not be a formality. While Panama are distinct outsiders, Belgium are ranked third in the world and will go into Monday’s fixtures as favourites to top the group, placing even more pressure on England to improve that wretched record in opening games.

“The first objective is to qualify from the group,” added Southgate. “We would love that to be in the first two games, for everybody to be happy and to move forward from there. But we have to be prepared that it might be the 94th minute of the third game. Whatever it takes, we’ve got be ready. Whether it’s the quality of our play, the quality of our defending, the desire to pull together in moments of adversity, we’ve got to show all the qualities needed to get through the group.

“But Tunisia are a good team. I like their coach’s ideas. They’re very organised and like to play from the back. Their organisation against Spain [in a recent friendly they lost 1-0] was excellent and this is a big test. When the draw was made everyone had this perception that it was the easiest group. I would argue it is one of the most difficult with ourselves, Tunisia and, of course, Belgium in terms of the [Fifa] rankings.”

Meanwhile Harry Kane has vowed to showcase his talent at the tournament. “The last few years I’ve improved and now I’m here, and I can’t wait to get out there and show the world what I’ve got,” he said.

England’s captain has watched Cristiano Ronaldo and Diego Costa pull clear early in the race for the golden boot, a prize he has targeted, but will aim to catch up.

“For sure Ronaldo’s put me under a bit of pressure,” Kane said. “He’s a fantastic player who had a fantastic game against Spain but, for me, it’s more about concentrating on the team. Hopefully I will score a hat-trick tomorrow and we’ll be level again. But the golden boot is not something I’ll be thinking about until much later in the tournament.”