Kyle Walker conceded he is still learning on the job as England s right-sided centre-back at the World Cup after coming in for criticism from Rio Ferdinand.
An attacking full-back by trade, Walker has largely impressed since switching to the position for the Three Lions March friendlies against Netherlands and Italy.
But he gave away a penalty for Tunisia s equaliser in England s eventual 2-1 Group G win in Volgograd, with Ferdinand describing Walker s body positioning as criminal .
It s a new position for me, of course I m still learning, the Manchester City defender told reporters.
I ve got great people next to me and the gaffer [Gareth Southgate] as well, who s watching coaching me and making sure I know certain tips in key areas when I m playing in that position.
He s entitled to his opinion. He wasn t playing the game, so that s it.
It s not that I ve never felt uncomfortable about it. As I ve said before, it s new tools to my toolbox that I feel will improve my game.
I don t get forward as much, which is a big part of my game. But I can use my pace in different areas to cover people.
As long as I m on the pitch and England are doing well, I m completely fine with it.
Catch me if you can
— Kyle Walker (@kylewalker2)
Group G outsiders Panama are up next for England on the back of their 3-0 defeat to Belgium.
Walker believes lessons learned from their Euro 2016 humiliation against Iceland means any slip-ups should be avoided.
I think we’ve learned a lot. The team has evolved massively from the Iceland game, he said.
We proved that against Tunisia. The board went up [for injury time] and I didn t even realise. We just kept to our game plan. We didn t panic and we got the goal at the end of it.
I think that shows the character that s in the team and the belief that we have in each other. Hopefully the same thing doesn t reoccur.
