England have their “edge back” at the World Cup following the “love-in” they received before the defeat by Belgium, says manager Gareth Southgate.
The loss meant the Three Lions finished second in Group G and now face Colombia in Tuesday’s last-16 tie in Moscow.
Southgate made eight changes for the Belgium game after thrashing Panama and beating Tunisia in their opening match.
He said: “The most important thing for me is the players are in the best physical condition for the game.”
A victory or draw with a better disciplinary record than Belgium would have seen England top their group and face Japan in the knockout stages.
But a second-placed finish is seen as a more favourable route through the tournament, avoiding a potential quarter-final against five-time winners Brazil.
Southgate has come under scrutiny for making so many changes to a winning side, opting to leave high-profile players including captain Harry Kane on the bench against Belgium.
Southgate said: “I don’t think mentally we lose anything because Colombia know we’ve made changes and they know Belgium weren’t their full team as well.
“So, we are in to big matches where margins will be fine and judgement on me will be extremely harsh. That’s why we are here.
“We want to be in those games. I wasn’t so comfortable with the love-in [before the game], to be honest, so it’s nice that there’s a little bit of an edge back.”