Lee Carsley: England interim boss says Dublin win boosted confidence

England interim boss Lee Carsley says their win over the Republic of Ireland has boosted his confidence – admitting he had doubts about his ability to do the job.

Declan Rice and Jack Grealish scored the goals in a 2-0 win in the Nations League in Dublin on Saturday, in England’s first game since Gareth Southgate resigned.

Carsley, usually the England Under-21 manager, was put in interim charge for the games against the Irish and Finland at Wembley on Tuesday.

His senior managerial career was limited to short caretaker spells in charge of Coventry, Brentford and Birmingham between 2012 and 2017.

“In the back of your mind you always think… you know, it’s easy to be the England manager, isn’t it, when you’re sat in the house,” the former Republic of Ireland midfielder said.

“There have been times where I’ve thought I’m not sure if I could do it.

“But it [the Dublin win] has done my confidence good, and the rest of the staff as well, that actually we’re OK, we’ll be all right.

“I think it’s natural to have doubts.”

Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White won last year’s European Under-21 Championship under Carsley.

And he was handed his senior debut by the ex-Everton player on Saturday.

“I’d say he’s a bit more serious now [than when he was Under-21 boss], which is a good thing,” Gibbs-White said.

“He’s stepped up a role and I feel like he’s taking everything as seriously as he can and fair play to him, that shows he wants to stay.”