England manager Gareth Southgate has declared himself "really pleased" with his side's performances during their spring friendlies.

The Three Lions extended their unbeaten run, now spanning eight matches since a 3-2 friendly defeat to France last summer, by beating the Netherlands and drawing with Italy.

Tuesday night's 1-1 tie with the Azzurri carried a twinge of disappointment for England, as they conceded a late penalty after controlling the vast majority of the second half at Wembley Stadium.

Southgate is happy to have been given a chance to further experiment with various personnel, however, with just two more games to play - against Nigeria and Costa Rica - before the World Cup begins.

"There have been some strong performances from individuals that have cemented - not their place in the squad, 19 or 20 of those were pretty clear - but it's often who are the next ones in if we get a problem in a particular area," he told reporters after the match.

"The things we've tried, we've learned a lot. What's really pleased me is the guys are solving problems on the pitch themselves - changes of formation from the opposition, patterns of working their way through different pressing tactics."

Southgate must name his provisional 35-man squad by May 14, before whittling that down to 23 players by June 4 at the latest.