England were 1-0 down with just two minutes to go in their Euro 2024 round-of-16 tie against Slovakia when Gareth Southgate subbed Ivan Toney on for his first appearance of the tournament
England striker Ivan Toney has backed up Gareth Southgate's admission that he was "disgusted" after being brought on with just two minutes to go against Slovakia.
Toney, 28, hadn't featured at all throughout Euro 2024 until Southgate turned to him in the fourth minute of injury time during Sunday's round-of-16 dramatic win. England trailed 1-0 and looked doomed when Southgate gave the Brentford star his tournament debut, but seconds later Jude Bellingham popped up with a sensational overhead kick to equalise and take the game to extra-time.
It was Toney who then provided the crucial assist for Harry Kane's winning header, sending England through to the quarter-final stage and setting up a clash with Switzerland on Saturday. Post-match, Southgate admitted that Toney was "pretty disgusted" with being given so little time to make an impact and the striker admits that his manager's decision left him "annoyed."
"It's always going to be tough," the 28-year-old explained when asked about his lack of minutes at the tournament. "It's tough for all of us as we play week in, week out for our clubs. I have been in this position before and when I get an opportunity I'll take it."
Toney is used to being an automatic starter at club level, having led the line for Brentford since their promotion to the Premier League in 2021. The ex-Peterborough striker has had to be patient when it comes to international football, though, especially while serving an eight-month ban last year for admitting to 262 breaches of the FA's rules on betting.
"At my club, there is a guy called Michael Caufield [a sports psychologist] and he talks about controlling your emotions," Toney revealed. "Yes, I was annoyed but there was still 30 minutes of football to play [including extra-time] and you have got to come out of that mood and focus.
"I feel like, people call them substitutes, others finishers. I think you have to be ready and there's more than 11 players needed to win a tournament."
Toney will hope to play much more than 30 minutes of extra-time on Saturday when England face Switzerland in Dusseldorf at 5pm UK time. The winner will go on to face either the Netherlands or Turkey in next Wednesday's semi-final.