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Lallana: We'll fight to get Southgate permanent England gig

Carl Recine / Reuters

Adam Lallana says he and his England teammates are "ready to fight" for Gareth Southgate to see him transition from an interim role to the permanent post.

The England Under-21 boss was drafted in to steady the ship after Sam Allardyce lasted 67 days at the England helm. The burly Dudley native was sacked in September following findings which indicated he was open to sidestepping Football Association rules on third-party ownership.

The win over Malta and a scoreless draw in Slovenia under Southgate since haven't exactly been top-rate entertainment, but Lallana believes this is a period which requires stability in the national team camp.

"We are ready to fight for him in the matches. Hopefully he will do well enough to get the job on a permanent basis," Lallana told BBC Sport.

The in-form Liverpool midfielder added: "It would be nice for Gareth and for us quite soon to know whether he's going to get the job."

At Euro 2016, the sorry end to Roy Hodgson's underwhelming handling of England, the Three Lions were eliminated by tournament minnow Iceland, and the indecision evident in the changes of formation and personnel demonstrated a lack of identity and philosophy in the squad.

With a forward-thinking young coach - like Southgate - in charge for some time, maybe those elements could be implemented at the St George's Park base.

"You can build towards having a certain identity that your manager wants you to have," Lallana, 28, explained.

"That's what a manager is there for. I'm sure over the next few days the manager will be telling us what he wants for the Scotland and Spain games."

The former is a rivals' tilt and World Cup qualifier slated for Friday, with Spain visiting for a friendly four days later.

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