Gareth Southgate accepted England must perform better, but insisted criticism should be directed towards him rather than his players.
The Three Lions slumped to a lacklustre 0-0 draw with Scotland at Wembley on Friday night.
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It was a game England fans were fully expecting to win and would have guaranteed their place in the Euro 2020 knockout stages.
Four points from their opening two games is likely to be enough to secure safe passage to the next round, but just one shot on target against Scotland did little to inspire confidence.
Assessing his team’s performance, Southgate told talkSPORT: “It was a very difficult game. We know we need to perform better and we know Scotland both with the ball played well and defended resiliently and made it difficult for us.
“In the end, it’s the sort of game where you could push and lose discipline and lose the game. In a tournament, although the desire is to win the game because of who the opposition is as well it means there’s an even bigger reaction externally by not winning.
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“We had to hold our nerve and take the point, we’re on four points and in terms of qualification that’s important.”
Fans were already venting their frustrations at the England performance both at the game and on social media.
Question marks were specifically raised as to why players like Jadon Sancho were left on the bench while Bukayo Saka was not even in the squad.
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When asked about the criticism, Southgate said: “I understand that as the manager and that should be directed at me. It’s up to me to get the results and it’s the players we’ve got to get behind.
“There’s a lot of young players there, they’re still in a good position to qualify in this tournament.
“We understand this is a game that means so much to everyone and when you don’t win it the reaction is going to be even bigger, derby matches are like that.
“Direct that at me, let’s get behind the team and get them ready for the next game and we will look to improve that performance.”
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He added: “We have to accept that we’re at home, we’re expected to win, we’re expected to make the running.
“There are times where we have to still be brave enough to be patient with the ball. You can’t just go flying forward.
“The spaces against Scotland, you had to probe one side and switch to the other. You have to work those teams out. There’s more emotion attached to this game, so I totally understand the response.”
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