Dominic Solanke ‘over the moon’ with England return but disappointed by defeat

Dominic Solanke enjoyed ending his seven-year England exile against Greece but says the disappointing result took the shine off it.

Solanke came off the bench in the Nations League B2 clash at Wembley, but could not help his side avoid suffering a humiliating 2-1 defeat.

His 18-minute cameo was his second cap, seven years after making his debut in a friendly against Brazil in 2017.

“It was good, it would have been a lot better if we managed to get the win tonight, but it didn’t quite go to plan,” he said. “We didn’t play how we wanted to.

“I am over the moon to be out there, last time was a long time ago so a lot has happened since then but I was happy to be out there.

“It was amazing, every cap for your country you need to cherish it because there is so much competition, so it is another cap.”

Interim boss Lee Carsley’s attacking plan to start Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon backfired as Greece claimed a historic victory, paying the perfect tribute to team-mate George Baldock, who died on the eve of the match.

Evangelos Pavlidis scored the winner in the fourth minute of injury time after his opener had been cancelled out by Bellingham.

England head to Finland on Sunday and Solanke expects his side to bounce back.

“On our day we are good enough to beat anyone, we have got good players all over the pitch,” he added.

“Some games are difficult, we didn’t quite manage to get it right.

“We are lucky enough to have another game in a few days so we have a chance to go out there and get a win.

“We need to rest and recover and go again.”