Jude Bellingham hit back at the “pile-on” of criticism over England’s performances after sparking a dramatic 2-1 win over Slovakia.

Bellingham was the hero for Southgate’s men, equalising with a stunning bicycle kick in the 95th minute to cancel out Ivan Schranz’s first-half effort.

Harry Kane’s header gave England the lead 52 seconds into extra time and The Three Lions held on to reach the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 where they will face Switzerland.

“You hear people talk a lot of rubbish and it’s nice that when you deliver, you can give them a little bit back,” said Bellingham.

He continued: “Sometimes we feel like there’s a bit of a pile-on and it’s not nice to hear but you can always use it and for moments like that, it’s nice to throw it back to some people.”

Pressed to give an explanation on what exactly he was referring to, Bellingham, who turned 21 on Saturday, said: “I think you know what I mean by ‘the rubbish’.”

“Playing for England, it should be one of the proudest things in a footballer’s career but often at times it’s quite difficult.

“The fans expect a lot from us, regardless of what happened in recent tournaments. So people talk a lot and I think you do have to take it personally a little bit.”

Kane, who netted his 48th goal in all competitions for club and country this season to seal the win, did not underplay the significance of the Real Madrid star’s strike.

“It’s one of the best in our country’s history, I reckon,” said Kane. “What a player he is. He works so hard for the team.

“There’s been a lot of talk about him the last couple of days, but it shows what he can do.

“In the big moments, he steps up, and that’s what we need. We need everyone to step up in moments.”

The England captain praised the team’s resolve and desire to mount the comeback in his post-match interview to ITV.

“We’ll do whatever it takes,” Kane said. “If we have another game like this in the quarter-finals, then so be it.

“This team knows how to dig deep and that’s exactly what we’ve done today.”

Despite the late euphoria for England in Gelsenkirchen, questions remain over the team’s performances, with Bellingham’s equaliser in the last minute of stoppage time their first shot on target.

Southgate’s apparent reluctance to bring on substitutes was also criticised, given just one replacement, Cole Palmer for Kieran Trippier, was made before the 84th minute.

Kane acknowledged that England were far from their best, but preferred to take the positives from the result.

He said: “Of course, we could have been better, we could have played better.

“But, ultimately, this is a results business and that’s what we care about. So we can enjoy this.

“We can enjoy the comeback and hopefully take that momentum into the rest of the tournament.”

Rice said: “There’s that inner fight and spirit in us that a few Slovakia players before the game said that we didn’t have.

“We’ve got that togetherness. We proved that tonight. We’d die for each other out there and do anything to protect this manager, protect each other.

“It’s an honour to be a part of it and we’re going to keep going. We’re going to keep giving it everything.”

“It’s actually crazy because if that’s me in that position, that’s going over the bar or I’m breaking my back or something,” joked Rice.

“But with big players, big moments and special moments fall to those players. To do that in the 95th minute after the game he had in terms of tiredness, the running, the dribbling, that takes a lot of guts.”