Rice: England are ready to ‘turn the page’ at Euro 2024 | OneFootball

Declan Rice says England are ready to put their first two games of Euro 2024 behind them and turn over a new page at the competition ahead of the game against Slovenia.

England narrowly beat Serbia 1-0 in their opening game in an unconvincing display before faltering in a 1-1 draw with Denmark.

But the Three Lions go into the clash with Slovenia top of their group and Rice says he has been trying to encourage his team-mates amid the criticism of Gareth Southgate’s side.

“I think the guys in here have probably been fair with what they’ve been saying,” he said when asked about the criticism from journalists.

“We’re the ones that ultimately have to go out there and perform and play well. First game, we did that in spells, second game we didn’t do that quite as well.

“The expectation for what people are going to say is obviously going to be negative. I did come out and defend our front players because naturally as players you read stuff. As young players, stuff can play on your mind.

“It’s better to read stuff that’s way more positive than negative. Players like Phil, Bukayo, Jude, I always think for me even as a player, when I was captain at West Ham and now at Arsenal, I like to encourage and tell people that they can be the best player on the pitch and of the quality they have and what they can do can change games.

“I feel like the more you feel that as a player within yourself, the more confident you’re going to be stepping out on the pitch.

“I feel like you’ll see that tomorrow night as a group. We’re going to be really confident and ready and hopefully after that, we’ll turn the page and it will start to look more positive.”

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