Clarke: Only way is up for Sam

New Football Association chairman Greg Clarke has welcomed Sam Allardyce’s winning start as England manager and praised his enthusiastic approach to the job.

Allardyce kicked off his reign with a last-gasp 1-0 victory over Slovakia on Sunday after replacing Roy Hodgson following England’s disappointing Euro 2016 campaign.

Clarke believes there is still a lot of work to do before England make it to the summit of the world game, though, and he has refused to specify a target after his predecessor Greg Dyke set his sights on winning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

“I think that we are now on the bottom of the staircase of recovery,” Clarke told Sky Sports News HQ. “You don’t appoint a new manager, who is largely working with the same players, and achieve an overnight transformation.

“I went to Slovakia with very realistic expectations. I think in Sam Allardyce we have a really, really good manager, but he has had a week with those players and getting a win was a great start, but there is a long way to go and Sam’s the right guy to take us there.

“The one thing Sam is not short of is …

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