Wednesday 16 November 2016 10:55, UK
England midfielder Jordan Henderson reckons Gareth Southgate has developed the squad since taking charge on a temporary basis in September.
Former Middlesbrough manager Southgate has taken charge of the senior England side four times following the departure of Sam Allardyce after just six weeks in the role.
England have beaten Malta and Scotland at home either side of drawing with Slovenia in their three World Cup qualifiers.
And Southgate's interim period at the helm ended with a 2-2 draw at Wembley in a friendly against Spain on Tuesday.
Liverpool skipper Henderson insists the 46-year-old has the backing of the England squad as the FA prepares to name a successor to Allardyce.
Henderson said: "When you have asked all the players the question, they have all been very supportive of the manager. He has been brilliant to work with over this period of time.
"I think we have progressed in the short space of time he has been here, from the first game to this game, and that is definitely a good sign that we are going in the right direction.
"It is out of our hands now but the players have worked tremendously hard for the manager and hopefully in the end, he will get it and we can keep going in this direction."
England do not play again until a friendly in Germany in March but Henderson reckons Southgate will have been pleased to see his players apply his ideology against Spain, despite the concession of two late goals to the visitors.
"I think he will be a bit disappointed like we are," Henderson said, when asked about Southgate's reaction to the late draw.
"Even though Spain had a lot more possession, I thought we were still in control without the ball. They didn't create many chances apart from the two goals but there are a lot of positives to come out of it.
"I'm sure the manager will be pleased about what we have done on the training field and how we put that into the game. We need to keep working.
"After the game, we are disappointed because we put so much into it and wanted to win the game.
"Of course, walking off the field you're disappointed but I'm sure if we reflect on the game, then the main things tonight were the performance, the way we set up and doing things we worked on in training. We did that for the majority of the game.
"We are disappointed with the two goals we conceded late on but for the majority of the game, the players gave everything and that is all you can ask."
