Dier determined to stay positive

Eric Dier is already looking to the future after suffering World Cup semi-final heartbreak with England.

The 24-year-old was introduced in extra time as the brave Three Lions went toe-to-toe with Croatia in Moscow on Wednesday night for a place in this weekend’s final.

It was not to be, however, as Mario Mandzukic’s strike in the 109th minute secured a 2-1 win for his side and brought England’s epic journey to a painful end – just one game away from a first World Cup final in a generation.

Speaking after the game, Eric was understandably distraught, but he felt that everyone in the squad – including Spurs team-mates Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Danny Rose and Kieran Trippier – has put themselves in a strong position for the future.

“Obviously everyone’s disappointed. We believed we could go all the way. To get this far is fantastic and we didn’t want it to end here,” he said.

“But there’ll come a time when we can look back and see all the good that has come from this (experience) and, 100 per cent, we want to be back playing games like this one day – and even bigger ones. We believe that we will be as well.

“We have to learn from this and take all the positives, learn from the negatives and come back. I think this squad is one of the youngest here at the World Cup and the base of this squad is the base of England hopefully for years to come. We believe we can get better and we will be better from this experience in the future.”

England round off a memorable campaign in Russia with the third place play-off against Belgium on Saturday afternoon (3pm UK) and Eric hopes to give something back to everyone who has supported his national team over the summer.

“Two years ago I was in France (Euro 2016) and the way we left that tournament is quite a contrast to the way we’re leaving this one,” he said.

“The fans after the Croatia game were fantastic and they’ve been fantastic throughout the whole tournament. To see the way they were after the (Croatia) game means so much to us. I feel like we’ve reconnected with the fans. That has been so special.”