Lee Carsley provides England stars one ultimate order earlier than Thomas Tuchel arrives

Lee Carsley has ordered his England stars to make sure he finishes his spell as caretaker boss on a high.

Carsley will take charge of a his last final two games when the Three Lions face Greece and Republic of Ireland in the Nations League. The former Everton midfielder, 50, will step aside for Thomas Tuchel to come in – and return to his role of U21 head coach.

But he doesn’t want his players to lose focus or take their foot off the gas, just because he is about to stand down. England have to beat Greece in Athens to stand any chance of winning the group instead of them.

Carsley has seen a host of his leading players withdraw from the squad injured. But he has told those that remain – or have been called up – to concentrate on getting the minimum two wins required.

Carsley spoke to his squad at St George’s Park ahead of Thursday’s clash with Greece and made it clear what is expected. Newcastle star Lewis Hall said: “From what he (Carsley) said to us, his focus and our focus is purely on these two games, because they’re important games.

“We’re second in the table. We want to end the camp finishing top. So there’s two massive games for us. We know how important the game against Greece will be, because of where they are in the table.

“A game against Ireland is always important as well. So it’s two big games for us and we’ll look to win them both.”