England's caretaker manager Carsley finds confidence in victory against Ireland

Lee Carsley admitted that he had moments of self-doubt while serving as England's interim manager, but the team's impressive 2-0 victory over Ireland in Dublin has helped to silence those concerns.

Carsley, who represented Ireland 40 times having qualified to play for the country through his grandmother, has been installed as caretaker while England search for a full-time successor to Gareth Southgate.

The win over Ireland not only gave England the ideal start to their Nations League campaign but may also have boosted Carsley's chances of filling the role permanently and he will be at the helm on Tuesday against Finland at Wembley.

"You always think it's easy to be the England manager when you're sat in the house but there have been times where I've thought I'm not sure I could do it," Carsley told British media.

"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 spoke about it at the first press conference, (being) a safe pair of hands. I feel like we're in a good position with the players," added Carsley, who had been managing England's Under 21s since 2021 and led them to the European title last year.

Looking ahead to the their journey towards the 2026 World Cup, Carsley said England had to show more control.

"The end goal is doing that against the top teams in the world in the ­biggest moments," he added. "They have got two years to get to that point. We have gone a good way to doing that."