Ex-Hull City hero Jarrod Bowen discusses England win over Serbia at Euro 2024

Former Hull City star Jarrod Bowen admitted his appearance off the bench in England's narrow 1-0 win over Serbia was a special moment, as he made his tournament bow at Euro 2024.

England looked to be on course for a statement victory when Jude Bellingham headed in the opener after 13 minutes in Gelsenkirchen but Gareth Southgate's men failed to build on their first half dominance and were under pressure for much of the second period.

In a bid to help see the Three Lions over the line, on came West Ham's Bowen and the winger almost had a hand in the crucial second goal, when he turned over a pinpoint cross for Harry Kane who saw his goalbound header brilliantly turned onto the bar in the closing stages by Serbian stopper Predrag Rajkovic.

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That victory coupled with Denmark's 1-1 draw with Slovenia means England will qualify for the Round of 16 with victory over the Danes in Frankfurt on Thursday teatime.

For Bowen, his appearance off the bench in replacing Bukayo Saka with 14 minutes to go was a significant step in a career that has developed brilliantly since he signed for City from Hereford in 2014.

"Obviously, getting selected was one thing and I said to myself that I want to step foot on the pitch and now I've managed to do that," the 24-year-old said in Germany. "To do it on an occasion where we were defending lead and be a part of that holding the lead was, for me, a really special moment but for us as well, the first group game was really important. We obviously wanted to win and we came away from here with three points which we can take into Thursday."

Boss Southgate, having watched his side labour in the second period, felt the goals would flow as the tournament progresses and his team find their rhythm.

“Today was just the finishing and a good save from the goalkeeper from the (Kane) header at the end," he said. “But that will come. I’m confident we will score goals. You’re playing against a back five. It’s not easy to create chances, but we did and in the end one was enough.

“They’re a strong team. We had to suffer a bit, which I think is really good for us, to come through and defend our box the way we did. The pressure was important for the group. We had good chances to extend the lead and kill the game, which we didn’t manage to take. So I was really pleased with a lot of the play, especially the first half, I thought we used the ball really well. Second half, we didn’t keep it quite as well as we need to, but to get the win and the start we have is really important.”