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Gareth Southgate focused on England improvement, not his record

Watch England play Switzerland at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday, live on Sky Sports

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Gareth Southgate defended his England approach following three straight losses

Gareth Southgate insists he is unconcerned by the possibility of becoming the first England manager to lose four games in a row, saying "the priority is not me it's the team".

Despite England reaching their first World Cup semi-final in 28 years, questions over their capability to compete with the top nations have been raised following consecutive defeats to Croatia, Belgium and Spain.

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However, Southgate says he feels under no pressure to field a strong side in Tuesday's friendly with Switzerland at the King Power Stadium, live on Sky Sports Main Event from 7pm, as he looks to give crucial minutes to fringe players.

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Highlights: England 1-2 Spain

When asked about the negative focus losing a fourth successive game could bring, Southgate said: "That will come on me and I'm not concerned about it. Otherwise, I would make decisions just to boost my own win record.

"In the build-up to last summer, we played Brazil, Germany, France, Spain - if it was about my win record I probably wouldn't make those decisions. The decisions are made to try and develop the team and I'll put young players in as we did again at the weekend like Joe Gomez, Marcus Rashford back in, Luke Shaw back in.

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"Then there's the other guys, the likes of Harry Maguire, with still only a handful of caps really. It's more important to me that we invest in the team and improve the team, that we give these guys the experiences they need to get better.

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"I'll have to live with whatever people want to say about my records, relegation and whatever fits the bill. I'm comfortable in my own skin in that regard. The priority is not me it's the England team."

England v Switzerland
England v Switzerland

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