Thomas Tuchel says England’s Nations League match against Czech Republic is not yet a must-win

England manager Thomas Tuchel says Tuesday’s Nations League meeting with the Czech Republic in Prague is “not yet a must-win”, despite his side’s 3-2 defeat by Spain.

Reigning world champions Spain recovered from 2-1 down to win an entertaining Group A3 opener at Wembley on Saturday, leaving England’s hopes of reaching only their second Nations League semi-final under pressure.

However, Tuchel played down the significance of the fixture being a must-win so early in the group.

“It’s a bit early in the group for a must-win,” Tuchel, who led England to the third spot at the World Cup, told reporters in Prague.

He insisted, though, that England’s objective remained unchanged.

“In general we always arrive at every match and prepare the team with a target to win… it was the target against Spain and it’s the target tomorrow,” he said.

“You always need a result in football to get confidence and to get the support and to get the belief you always need. Especially after a defeat.”

Tuchel expects a difficult test against a Czech Republic side beginning a new era under Santi Denia, their first-ever foreign coach. The Spaniard was appointed in the summer after the Czechs finished last in their World Cup group.

The hosts also lost their opening Group A3 match, going down 2-1 at home to Croatia on Saturday. Although the result was disappointing, they showed signs of improvement under Denia.

“We respect the opposition, we respect the quality, we respect the challenge that it brings if you play in Prague against Czechia,” Tuchel said.

England may have to make changes to the side that started against Spain, with Ezri Konsa and Nico O’Reilly both carrying what Tuchel described as “minor issues”.

“Ideally I would love to put the same team out there, but I need to speak with doctors, physios and the players themselves,” he said.

“My mindset before the camp was to not rotate too much,” added the German coach. “But we will always be very considerate with the health of the players.”

The Three Lions have reached the Nations League semi-final only once in the competition’s three editions. They were also relegated to the second tier during the 2022/23 campaign.

The Czech Republic have avoided defeat in their last four home games against England, including a 2-1 victory in Prague during a Euro 2020 qualifier in 2019.

Denia, who guided Spain to 2024 Olympic gold, acknowledged the scale of the challenge facing his developing team. He described England as “one of the best teams in the world”, but said the hosts would concentrate on their own progress.

“We are focused on our development to improve our performance and to improve our details with our team,” Denia said.