MARCUS Rashford believes England are only touching the surface of what they can achieve together.

Rashford experienced the most eventful night of his fledgling international career in Monday's 2-1 defeat of Slovakia, walking away from a testing night with the man-of-the-match award and a major test of character passed.

The Manchester United forward was handed a first Wembley start by Gareth Southgate but was left cursing his own judgement after an over-ambitious run from defence allowed the visitors to take a third-minute lead.

Yet rather than wilt, the 19-year-old set about imposing himself on the World Cup qualifier, setting up Eric Dier's equaliser from the corner flag and then powering home a memorable winner from 20 yards.

The result left England five points clear at the Group F summit with only six more on the table and Rashford sees a bright future for Southgate's squad.

"We're all quite young players, so hopefully we can be together for years and years," he said.

"What we're doing now is just the start of everything. We could be speaking about much greater things in the future. For the players and obviously for the fans as well, that's what we all want.

"We're young and as long we all stay together, we are working on relationships off the pitch to make us better on the pitch. There are a lot of things going on in the background that hopefully can bring the best out of all of us."

England's long-suffering supporters will be hoping Rashford is right as they begin to cast an eye toward Russia 2018.

But while the collective consciousness dates their frustration all the way back to 1966 – and more than 50 years of hurt – their new hope is a relative newcomer to English tournament anguish.

"The first one that I properly watched when my football brain was more fully developed was 2010 when Frank Lampard scored (a disallowed goal) against Germany," recalled Rashford.

"That was when I started watching, to be honest. It was very recent. The last World Cup in Brazil I think I was on holidays, you know. I was in Dubai but I was watching all the games and following the whole World Cup – it was quite a chilled holiday."

Rashford was equally 'chilled' in bouncing back from his early error against Slovakia, showing the kind of mettle England players have needed deep reserves of over the years.

He never shied away from the ball, continued to drive at opponents and take on half-chances – albeit never again from quite such a deep starting point.

"It's football and you have your ups and you have your downs," he reflected.

"You always want to help the team anyway by scoring or with an assist. Whether it's 0-0 or 1-0, it doesn't make a difference.

"I think the whole team reacted well and it is great that we got the goal back late in the first half. The manager said to just stay calm at half-time and try to work on the things we had been working on in training over the week and I think that is what we all did."

Rashford revealed his childhood was more filled with dreams of donning the red of United, rather than the more distant pull of England, but will cherish his biggest moment to date in the international arena.

He said: "It was more a Manchester United thing, for me. You don't start to think about England until you are a bit older – 15 or 16 – and start playing in the England youth team.

"That is when you start to dream about moments like this. But when you dream, it's never the same as when you are out there. It was a special moment and one I will keep with me for a long time."