"Key player performing at really high level": England manager Gareth Southgate lauds Bukayo Saka

Manchester [UK], June 20 : After his team's 7-0 win over North Macedonia in UEFA Euro qualifier match, England's manager Gareth Southgate lauded Bukayo Saka's performance as he scored a hat-trick. He said Saka is a key player performing at a really high level.

England are now in a comfortable position to qualify for the Euro 2024 tournament. England are in Group C along with Ukraine, Italy, North Macedonia and Malta. After the win against North Macedonia, England are on top of the table with 12 points.

The England coach lauded Saka's ability to handle pressure.

"When he broke into the team at Arsenal, what struck us was that in a team that was having a difficult time, he was performing at a really high level. Then when the team were playing well, he was still a key player performing at a really high level. That says a lot about his mentality and his ability to deal with pressure, and that's the environment that we deal with all the time. It's exceptional to work with him," Southgate said, according to UEFA website.

Southgate also expressed his views on attackers in the team.

"Those three [Rashford, Kane, Saka] have had exceptional seasons with their clubs and we felt tonight it would be more transitional, there would be more space and the speed of Bukayo and Marcus would be decisive. But we have different options with Phil [Foden] and Jack [Grealish] and others that aren't here. You need that competition. You're not always going to have virtually everybody available, as we did this time. But it's great to have those different options."