Family recycle Santa into Gareth Southgate replica

Liam Clements said his creation had attracted a lot of local attention

A football fan who repurposed a Father Christmas dummy to look like England manager Gareth Southgate has said the replica has attracted positive attention, despite the team's Euro performances.

Liam Clements said his family retrieved the dummy from a skip near his home in Rugby, Warwickshire.

Passers-by have stopped for selfies and drivers toot their horns, he said.

But he admitted the replica was "about two minutes away from going in the bin" on Sunday before Jude Bellingham's goal kept England's hopes alive.

"It's been a tough watch," he said. "The only positive is, we're through to the quarters, that's all I can say."

Explaining how the Southgate replica came to be, Mr Clements credited his parents.

"About two months ago we were sat in the garden having a few drinks, my mum and dad had popped round," he said.

"They walked down to their local shop, on the way back, there was a chap doing a house clearance, throwing a load of things away in the skip and basically he had a life-sized Father Christmas.

"About five minutes after they left, they were back with my dad carrying a big Father Christmas and I said: 'Brilliant. Let's convert that into a life-sized Gareth Southgate'.

"So [I went] up in the wardrobe, I got an old suit and my mum with her sewing powers brought all her sewing gear round, stitched it all up."

Mr Clements also has a flag on his home

Despite having a replica of the England manager in front of his house, accompanied by a flag emblazoned with the words "Southgate you're the one", Mr Clements was critical of his decisions during the tournament.

Although Sunday's match against Slovakia was Southgate's 100th game in charge for England, Mr Clements said he felt he would not continue for much longer.

"We need a more attacking approach and a young, hungry manager."

He said the Southgate replica would remain outside his home and "we'll see what happens on Saturday".

"I'm not looking forward to it. Switzerland played very well against Italy the other night, so I'm a little bit concerned going into the game - in Southgate we trust."