England will be aiming to produce a sparkling finish to what has largely been a positive international break when Czech Republic visit Wembley on Tuesday night.
The match is the fourth and final leg of what has been a newly-elongated window. They strung together back-to-back Nations League wins, away against the Czechs and then in emphatic style at Croatia last weekend. Those victories followed a thrilling but ultimately pointless match at home to Spain in their opener.
All in all, it has been a two-week period that has helped restore confidence among England supporters after a gruelling World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina in the summer. The performance, if not the result, against Spain was well-received thanks to a bold approach whilst the evisceration of Croatia showed England can turn the screw when necessary.
Tuchel, ahead of the visit of the Czechs, reflected: “It’s three matches only and we have one more to play. We will not take a positive reaction or do the debrief before the camp is finished.
“We have one more match to play and we have to show another performance, show the right attitude and if we continue in the way it’s pointing [towards that] – because the three performances have been on a high level.
“The players get a lot of credit in the bank for that.
“You can see what we have built and what the team stands for as an identity. You come into an excellent dressing room and a brilliant squad with excellent leaders and clear values about how we make new players feel comfortable.
“I think this is what people see and feel in our performances. To have that, players have to take care of the values and standards off the pitch, make new players feel comfortable and understand how things work here, but also comfortable enough to express themselves and take risks on the field.”
There could be some shuffling of the pack by Tuchel, after such a quick turnaround and four games in the space of just 11 days. However, that is offset by a thinned out squad. The eve of this match saw another player added to the growing list of withdrawals, with Alex Scott now unavailable after a promising full debut against Croatia.
One player who is certain to feature, whether that is from the start or off the bench, is skipper Harry Kane as he gets ready for a landmark night.
Kane will equal Peter Shilton’s record of 125 England caps on what will undoubtedly be a proud evening for the 33-year-old. His manager admits he is an awe of the centre-forward and that he is struggling for new words to describe his talisman.
“I’m not sure I have any more words,” Tuchel added. “He’s on the shortlist for the Ballon d’Or. We’ve spoken so often about him and I try to find new words which then make no sense.
“Everything he does, he does it on the highest level. Since he took this major role for Bayern Munich, he found a new level. It’s the highest level, on and off the pitch.”
England conclude their Nations League campaign next month when Croatia visit Wembley on November 12, three days before they travel to Spain.
