England winger Raheem Sterling has claimed that the upcoming friendlies against Spain and France will be the real test of where they are as a team.

Roy Hodgson's side flew through Euro 2016 qualifying, winning all 10 of their matches to reach the tournament as the only perfect team.

However, with two high-profile friendlies coming up this month, and matches against Germany and Netherlands to follow in March, Sterling believes that the "real challenge" is only just about to begin.

"We know it was a good run in the qualifying and we were unbeaten but this is the real challenge now," Sterling told reporters.

"We are going to be playing some of Europe's best teams and this is where we really get to see where we are in terms of the tournament in the summer. Hopefully we can show what we can really do.

"We just need to focus on what the manager has been telling us. We need to knuckle down and focus on these next few games against Spain and France, as well as Germany and Holland."

England take on Spain in Alicante on Friday before hosting France at Wembley on Tuesday.