Gary Neville issues warning to England after World Cup draw

The former

defender feels that each of England’s opponents will pose them some difficulty. The Three Lions were drawn with Iran,

, and the winner of one of the final play-off fixtures - meaning that either Scotland,

or Ukraine will join Southgate's men in the group stage.

“The Ukraine/Wales/Scotland conundrum - each of those, whether it be a home nation or Ukraine at this moment in time, brings a level of real passion and emotion and feeling for different reasons,"

Neville told Sky Sports.

“We have seen those games in recent tournaments against both Scotland and Wales – each of those were very difficult games in each of the Euros. Scotland were a big challenge in the summer and Wales went on to go further than us in 2016.

“We know how much it means to the Scottish, the Welsh or the Irish to play against England and that is not us being arrogant, but it is a huge fixture – it is for England as well, but it does not seem to carry that same level of dislike.

“I am looking forward to the group but they are all difficult games from an emotional perspective more than a football perspective and that does carry some potential problems from England. They would have wanted to avoid playing a home nation because it is a complication you do not need.

“It has always been the same – we had it in Euro 1996, when Scotland should have beaten us before Gazza’s fantastic goal. The emotion and the passion that those nations and their fans bring will make it difficult as they travel particularly well and they will be brilliant games for us to watch, or even if it is Ukraine.

"And Iran, relations at government level between Iran, England, USA over the last 20-30 years has not always been great so there will a lot of interest in that game." hse said.

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