England can draw inspiration from Euro 96, says Terry Venables
Monday 13 June 2016 15:45, UK
Terry Venables believes the current England squad can draw inspiration from Euro 96 as they look to build on their result against Russia.
England were denied victory in their Euro 2016 Group B clash when conceding a stoppage-time goal to draw 1-1 at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille on Saturday.
It was a familiar story for England, who have never won their opening match at a European Championship and began their campaign 20 years ago with a 1-1 draw against Switzerland at Wembley.
England face a crucial 'Battle of Britain' against Wales in Lens on Thursday, evoking memories of their 2-0 victory over Scotland in the group stage at Euro 96.
Venables, who was in charge of England during the Championships and led them to the semi-finals before losing on penalties to Germany, is convinced the current crop of players can bounce back from Saturday's disappointment.
Speaking to Sky Sports News HQ, he said: "That's what happened to us. We had a draw against Switzerland and then we had to play against Scotland. Talking about motivation, you couldn't get more motivation than playing Scotland.
"I knew in the first 10, 15, 25 minutes that the Scots would come and hit us like a brick wall. They played really, really well for the opening 30 minutes, but for the rest of the game it went well for us, especially in the second half.
"The main thing you must make sure of is that you don't lose the opening match. Once you lose, everybody gets a bit nervy, so you've got to hold your nerve. They didn't want to lose the first game, they will want to be winning from the second game onwards.
"We had Scotland which was a tough game and of course we had the Netherlands and Spain, so the first game was helpful that we did draw. So, don't worry too much about the draw. If it's a draw you're still in it.
"Normally on the first game, you can have a good bet on it being a draw. You find that every team wants to get a point on the board after the opening game so they've got something they can be happy about and take that into the second game."
Venables is confident England will improve and has backed Roy Hodgson's 'Rolls Royce' players to start picking up victories.
"Roy has got the squad, they have been training really well and I think we've got some real Rolls Royce players as far as I am concerned," he said.
"They have to keep themselves to themselves, let other people do the talking and we'll do all the action. I think we can look forward to some good results."
