English discipline delights Baxter

'Defended deeper'
Baxter admitted he had asked his players to "defend a bit deeper" against the talented French team and the outcome was three points which revive England's hopes following Wednesday's defeat against Austria.

'Disgustingly disciplined'
"I said to the players before the game that 'If you're going to beat France in a game like this you've got to be disgustingly disciplined' and they were. We chose to defend a bit deeper than we normally do. I thought if we play that way and defend poorly we lose, but the defenders who played poorly against Austria did well today."

Race for second place
The victory means England are now second in the group with four points, three points ahead of both France and the Czech Republic, with Austria already confirmed as group winners after beating the Czechs 4-1. England play the Czechs on Sunday when France face Austria.

'Massive response'
"We've really challenged the lads since the Austria game - a lot of players played under their normal capacity and we didn't give a good impression so playing against France and knowing you've got to repair both your reputation and get back into the tournament that's a massive response they've given today - I'm really pleased," Baxter added.

'Critical situation'
France coach René Girard admitted his side's hopes were now hanging on a thread: "We are now in a critical situation, there is still a small chance but we shouldn't dream too much." Girard said his players had not coped well with England's defensive approach: "We played a lot of long balls, which is actually what the English were looking for and we didn't play our game and the kind of football we can play."

Austrian reaction
Paul Gludovatz, coach of the group winners Austria, said: "We always believed, not just me but the whole team. The first game against England was the first step, this was the next one. Let's see what happens. We are the first team in the semi-final. Other nations haven't reached the final round. I think Austrian football will now be looked at differently by other nations who think it is not so good."