England manager Gareth Southgate has revealed he is looking forward to games against Italy and Germany in the National League of football .

The Roaring Lions were drawn in the same group as Italy, Germany and Hungary in the Nations League split on Thursday. That with their 1-3 games scheduled for early June next year.

“It’s a great program to look forward to. That was my first move,” The Three Lions boss told the Football Association’s website.

“I know that the Nations League in this format is adapted to these games. So whoever we face in the first two pots will be a high-level contender.

“That’s what we need (against Italy and Germany) to lead the World Cup. Over the last 12 months we have had a tough schedule. It’s a game of high quality that helps the development team and they’re a game that we’ve learned a lot about.”

The 51-year-old said that “high quality” games help in improving the team’s performance. And the players learn the most from high-level matches.

“We have had a tough fixture schedule through the last 12 months, but the high quality of games is what helps the team to improve. They are the matches we have learned the most from,” Southgate said.

The former defender said that “fire is burning” inside the England players. A glimpse of which they showed with their performance in the World Cup qualifiers in September.

“I think that fire is burning in our group of players. Also We showed that immediately in the September (World Cup qualifiers) that followed, winning in Budapest and getting a draw in Warsaw,” he added.