Marcus Rashford and Morgan Rogers show England mentality as Three Lions deal with kick-off time chaos

Marcus Rashford didn’t think England would be impacted by a late kick-off change – but admitted it would not have be ‘not ideal’ should it happen.

The Three Lions’ last 16 tie against Mexico will be at 1am UK time despite FIFA considering bringing it forward by six hours to Sunday evening.

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Rashford and co. are scheduled to face the co-hosts at 6pm local time, which is 1am on Monday morning in the UK.

However, due to concerns over thunderstorms and adverse weather conditions, the game was almost switched to 12pm local time.

That would have meant a 7pm start in the UK on Sunday evening.

talkSPORT understands that England boss Thomas Tuchel wasn’t happy about the last-minute change to the game before FIFA’s U-turn.

But Rashford wasn’t too worried about the potential switch, albeit admitting that the late uncertainty isn’t the best for the squad.

He told the media in the Three Lions’ World Cup camp on Friday before FIFA’s U-turn: “I think for us it’s the same, how we prepare for the game, it has to be the same, we have to be focused, we have to be ready for anything.

“I think it’s one strength of the group, everyone including the players and staff, we’re ready for whatever challenge is thrown at us.

“Obviously it’s not ideal, but also it doesn’t matter.”

Rogers reacts

Rashford’s teammate Morgan Rogers also gave his thoughts on the kick-off against Mexico potentially being brought forward.

He said: “It’s just another obstacle to overcome, we’ll take it how it is, whatever the task is in front of us.

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“Whatever problem we face or things that might be a bit difficult, we’re just going to attack it full throttle and be ready.

“We’ll be together and talk through what can help us and try to overcome it.”

Mexico boss ‘very upset’

The England camp may have been positive despite the chaos, but Mexico manager Javier Aguirre was furious at the possibility of a kick-off change.

“Like a kick in the stomach because clearly you change everything, the game plan, everything,” he said about the news before FIFA reverted to the original schedule.

“Not that everything goes down the drain, but almost because you’re changing six hours.

“I don’t like it at all, but evidently we will abide by what FIFA says.

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“But I especially don’t like any of it, and neither do my players.

“Not a minor change. The change is important.

“I can understand their reasoning and arguments, but nobody consulted me. I’m very upset.”

Ready for the challenge

England seemed to be fully prepared to deal with the kick-off time change in Mexico, but that’s just one of their problems.

They’re also going to have to end the co-host’s incredible winning streak at the Azteca Stadium, where their fans are going to be creating an incredible noise in the stands.

“I think it’s a great stadium,” Rashford told talkSPORT.

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“It’s obviously worked well for them in the past, but although that’s irrelevant to us, we know what we’re going to face and we have to try to control the game and play our game.

“It’s as simple as that. Whatever gets thrown at us, we try to deal with it and keep moving forward.”

The England forward also went on to assess how good the unbeaten Mexico have been so far at the World Cup.

“I think so far they’ve shown the difficulty to score against and they’ve been scoring goals, especially early on,” he said.

“It’s a team that’s setting their ways in terms of playing style and they’re effective.

“There’s lots of great teams in the tournament and if we want to get to the final and win it, we’re going to have to come up against them and find a way to win.”