England will be let off the leash against Slovenia on Tuesday night following a heart-to-heart with manager Gareth Southgate aimed at banishing their slow start to Euro 2024.

Southgate, who is expected to pick Conor Gallagher in place of Trent Alexander-Arnold against Slovenia, blames fitness issues for England’s negative displays so far.

But Declan Rice revealed on Monday that England — who are certain of a place in the last 16 after Monday night’s results — would now abandon their reserved strategy. ‘You’ll see an England team that will have` a different pressing style,’ said the Arsenal midfielder. ‘You’ll see a team that wants to be on the front foot and wants to press high up the pitch.

‘The coaching staff are fully on the same page as us. If you look at the last 25 or 30 games we’ve played at Wembley, we’ve suffocated teams at the higher end of the pitch. I can tell you now, it’s not one of our game plans to sit in a low block.

‘What Gareth’s got here is a really good relationship with the players. He’s really open to ideas and opinions.

‘This week’s been really good because if something hasn’t been right, we’d stop the session and speak about it. We’d say what we think’s better, we’d do another repetition, then we’d see the improvements.’

Southgate added: ‘Our identity for a while has been pretty clear. We haven’t quite seen that in the first couple of games and there was a need to have a reset and have open and honest conversations.

‘We reflect as a coaching team. The players are reflective. So nobody has been ducking anything this week, nobody has been alone in their thoughts.

‘It’s a real collective because we’re all on the same page. That allows us to assess where we were and how we need to progress in the same direction.’

Rice rejected claims England’s players are tired — despite boss Southgate insisting his side could not press with the necessary intensity against Denmark last week because of fatigue.

Asked about criticism of the team’s fitness, Rice told ITV Sport: ‘It’s ridiculous. Let them keep questioning it. We are built to play these type of seasons.

‘Because we are sitting in a low block, people automatically assume we are tired and leggy and not fit enough. If we are not fit enough to compete for 90 minutes, we shouldn’t be footballers.

‘We are all looking forward to going out there free, in a way, and performing and showing everyone that we can be the team we are trying to be.

‘This is a chance to go out there and express ourselves and have that performance where we can make an impact.’

Kieran Trippier is expected to continue at left back despite concerns over his workload after he only returned from a calf problem on the final day of the Premier League season.

Southgate could look to replace Trippier in the second half to rest the 33-year-old for this weekend’s last-16 tie.

Trippier is also performing an important role around the camp, attempting to maintain the spirits of those frustrated by a lack of game-time.

That includes his Newcastle team-mate Anthony Gordon and Cole Palmer. On Tuesday night both will be on the bench, where they have been for the whole of the first two matches.

So far, Southgate has turned to Jarrod Bowen, Eberechi Eze and Ollie Watkins as his attacking substitutes.

There have been calls for Gordon to play on the left wing, given the problems England have with the balance of the team, and Trippier has been helping his club colleague deal with the disappointment of being kept in reserve.

‘I took Anthony under my wing a bit at Newcastle, explaining to him and trying to help guide him when he went away with the Under 21s in the Euros (last summer),’ he said. ‘I told him, “Don’t take a holiday, come straight back into pre-season and try to hit the ground running”, and he’s done that. I had a chat with him after training because obviously he’s not played in the two games.

‘I was just saying to him, “This is tournament football. I’ve been in your position, you’ve got to keep training well and working hard”, which he is doing. I said, “You will be needed at some point”. He was on fire in training.’

Trippier added: ‘I know how hard it is mentally when you’re the one who has to train the next day (after a game) and doing extra stuff when everyone else is recovering. I’ve been there and that’s why I try to relate to the other players, who maybe are at their first tournament.

‘A lot of them have come to me and asked me questions. It’s always important that the young players lean on us.’