'Serious contender': Gareth Southgate now opens up on what he thought of Anthony Gordon's debut

There were really only one or two players who could come away from that England performance with any real pride and Anthony Gordon was definitely one.

Making his senior debut for England after leading the Under 21s the European Championship glory last summer, Anthony Gordon maintained his superb Newcastle United form for his country and played his way into Gareth Southgate's thoughts when it comes to his Euro 2024 squad selection.

Anthony Gordon told The Telegraph what Southgate said to him as he came off the pitch around the 75-minute mark on Saturday after creating England's best chances.

“He was saying, ‘fantastic’. He was really pleased for me. I think he was happy with my performance which is always a good thing,”

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Gareth Southgate was pleased with Gordon's debut

Meanwhile, Gareth Southgate went into more detail about Gordon's performance when speaking to the media.

“The good thing is that Gordon did what we thought he was going to do.

“He showed what he’s done for his club, he’s a serious contender and we have to know what these other options are if we lose players like we have because no-one really knows how this season is going to pan out.”

Southgate's words suggest Gordon is seen as a backup at the moment

That suggests that Gordon is currently seen as an alternative option, which makes sense given that it was his debut on Saturday and Southgate hasn't really got to know him fully yet.

However, with Belgium to play tomorrow and then two more games between then and the Euros Gordon has every chance of convincing the manager that he should be part of his first-team thoughts for Euro 2024, or at least on the plane to Germany.

From a Newcastle perspective, though, keeping him fit and firing for the remainder of this season as we try and grab a European spot is more important than England's Euro chances.