England assistant Steve Holland knows there is room for improvement after a "mixed" group stage but believes they are heading into the crunch Euros clash with Germany in their best shape to date.
Gareth Southgate's side opened Group D with a 1-0 win against Croatia, before a drab 0-0 draw with rivals Scotland and securing top spot in the pool by beating the Czech Republic 1-0 on Tuesday.
The Three Lions' reward is a mammoth last-16 clash with Germany back at Wembley next Tuesday, when assistant manager Holland knows they will need to up their game.
That has helped the Three Lions cope with Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell going into isolation, with the former Chelsea coach believing they are now in a good place to kick on.
"Compared to Russia where we had a good four and a half weeks prep with the squad, really we've only been five, six days with the whole squad together leading into the Croatia game," Holland told the Official England Podcast before Germany were confirmed as opponents.
"A completely different set of circumstances, more challenging, but we are in a year of strange challenges and the need to adapt is something that we've all had to do, whether we're in football or in normal life.
"Was it perfect? No. But it's the set of cards we have and we've just had to find a way around things.
"I would probably argue that we're in better shape at this moment in time, this afternoon as I speak, than probably we've been at any other point since the first day leading into the two games at the Riverside."
