Alan Pardew: 'Gareth Southgate perfect for England'

Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew has branded Gareth Southgate "a great choice for England" and backed the nation's Under-21 boss to take control of the senior team on a full-time basis.

Southgate, who represented his country as a player on 57 occasions between 1995 and 2004, is currently in interim charge of England after replacing Sam Allardyce at the helm.

The Three Lions have collected four points from their two 2018 World Cup qualifiers under Southgate, and Pardew believes that the 46-year-old is the perfect manager to take the national team forward.

"Gareth, in my opinion, is a great choice for England. Now it's about results, we live and die by results. He's done well so far. Part of being a manager is that everything is centred on the results. Everything going on around that can make it difficult to get them," Pardew told reporters.

A decision on the next England boss will be taken after next month's friendly with Spain.