Joleon Lescott column: Time for Gareth to Czech out Sancho

It was a tough night for England against Scotland — but I’m confident we’ll see a response against the Czech Republic this evening. 

All the focus in the build-up to last Friday’s clash was on the quality of players on both sides, the enormity of the occasion and the history. The one thing I think many people overlooked is the quality of Steve Clarke as a coach.

He set his team up perfectly and you have to say the Scots were the better side on the night. 

I thought the fact Gareth Southgate didn’t take off either of his holding midfielders when Jack Grealish came on was a good indication of how much respect he had for the visitors and their impressive boss.

It’s easy to over-analyse a performance when it hasn’t gone your way but the result wasn’t a disaster by any stretch. 

Our main objective was to get out of the group and we’ve already achieved that thanks to last night's results. It’s tournament football and sometimes you just need to get the job done.

Is us drawing with Scotland any worse than France drawing with Hungary? In that game, we saw the favourites for the tournament drop points — it does happen.  

But I do think it’s finally time for Gareth to unleash Jadon Sancho.

I’ve spoken previously about what I think he can bring to the table in tight games. On top of that, I think the English public would like to see a few new faces come in to lift morale a bit.  

When I say that, it’s not a case of Gareth bowing down to media pressure. Sometimes things just need freshening up and I think the options we possess within our squad mean that making a couple of positive changes is a sensible thing to do.

Even though he’s captain, I don’t think Harry Kane’s starting position is a given — despite what the manager may have said.  

He’s been a huge part of England’s journey to their current position and he’s a class act. But you must judge players on their most recent form — not just what they’ve done in the domestic campaign. 

If you do play Sancho, he is someone who registered more assists last season than anyone else in the squad. He gets his crosses in.

And if you’re looking for someone to get in the six-yard box who can apply a finishing touch to those crosses, Dominic Calvert-Lewin is that man.

Even though we’re already through, I think this is a game we need to go out and win. It’s an opportunity to approach things with a more aggressive mindset, which could serve us well further down the line. 

There could be a point in the knockout phase where we’re chasing a game and need a goal. We need to be prepared for when risks must be taken and tonight’s game allows Gareth to do that in my opinion.

In our first two matches, we tried to win — but there was also an element of making sure we didn’t lose. With four points on the board, you’d like to think the players can now play with more freedom and really put on a show.

The Czechs are a very capable side and are also unbeaten in Group D, so it won’t be an easy game. 

But I do think we are more suited to facing the better sides with the way we play and their expansive approach will leave spaces for our forwards to exploit. 

I still firmly believe we’ll get a positive result and top the group. Come on England!

Joleon Lescott was talking to LiveScore's Matthew Hill