CHIPPENHAM'S Tyrone Mings praised England's resilience after the Three Lions beat Croatia 1-0 in their opening EURO 2020 group game on Sunday.

Gareth Southgate's men controlled proceedings against the World Cup finalists on a brutally hot afternoon at Wembley Stadium, and Raheem Sterling's second-half goal was enough to get England off to a flying start.

Mings received strong criticism in a couple of recent friendlies for his underwhelming performances and a controversial forearm smash, but the former Chippenham Town defender was one of England's top performers against Croatia.

Reflecting on a superb outing, the Aston Villa defender told the BBC: “It’s a dream come true to play at a major tournament for England and I loved every second of it.

"The team showed a lot of grit, determination and a lot of quality at times. It was up to us to repel their threats but equally we always have quality to trouble teams as well.

“We wanted a second but it was important as a defender and a team we wanted to be hard to beat. We were resilient and we kept a clean sheet.

“We felt composed and we felt in good shape. The back four is only as good as the players in front of it giving it protection. The players who came on gave us a new lease of life and more energy.”

England flew out of the blocks in front of the 21,500-strong crowd, and went agonisingly close to a dream sixth-minute opener.

Sterling ran onto a quick throw-in by Kieran Trippier and played onto Manchester City team-mate Phil Foden.

The 21-year-old kept his composure under pressure, cutting in and quickly curling a lovely left-footed shot from just inside the box that hit the base of a post and came out.

Despite the hot start, England could not maintain their intensity, leading fans to chant Jack Grealish’s name as the playmaker began to warm up.

But the slow creep of frustration soon turned to elation as England made the breakthrough.

Kyle Walker sent a low ball forwards to Phillips, who smartly turned inside from the right and played through for Sterling to smash past Livakovic under pressure and send Wembley wild.

Mount was a whisker away with a 25-yard free-kick and Sterling looked frustrated after lashing over from a Mings knockdown as England looked to rubber-stamp victory.

England had to dig deep and contain Croatia until the end, but the Three Lions held on to kick their Euros campaign off with a win for the first time ever.