The England manager signed a four-year contract to take him beyond Euro 2020 at the end of last year after four games in charge as a caretaker manager.

But while there is no break clause, plenty of his predecessors have left their jobs part-way through their tenure following disappointing results.

Such has been the impression Southgate has made since promoting his ideas for the evolution of a more youthful England side, however, that FA chief executive Martin Glenn insists that is not an issue whatever the tournament in Russia might hold.

When asked whether there would be a clamour to change managers if Russia proved a disaster – even after Friday’s draw handed the Three Lions a relatively easy group of Belgium, Tunisia and Panama – his answer was unambiguous.

“No,” said Glenn said. “No one wants to have bad World Cup but we’re confident he’s the right guy to take us through for the next few tournaments.

“Long-term plans are hard to defend when the short-term results go against you. But we’ve got a long-term plan. You’ve seen it, you’ve seen some of the fruits of it.

“Gareth has a long-term contract. He’s not looking at Russia as a free pass, he wants to go out there and win.

“But we’re going to do it in a way that’s sustainable. So we’re going to make sure that we’re picking the kind of players that can do their best in Russia and continue to kick on in 2020 and 2022.

“What we’re doing is making sure players that have made it through to the first team by 21 or 22 have had lots and lots of tournament experience.

“So those Under-17 winners and Under-20 winners will be coming through and they are serious, serious competitions to win. We know that worked for the Germans and we know that worked for the Spanish.

“So, we’re just repeating things they’ve done with our own emphasis on it.”