When the Three Lions turn into scaredy cats

England’s repeated failure from 12 yards at World Cups prompted Ben Lyttleton to go in search of the perfect penalty kick.

Dave Brailsford tells his athletes the same thing over and over again as a matter of course. “Analyse the demands of the event. Any discipline, that’s what you need to do. Analyse the demands of the event.”

The head of Team Sky, and former boss of British Cycling, was one of the leading thinkers in sport that I approached in researching my book Twelve Yards: The Art and Psychology of the Perfect Penalty. I was convinced that England’s dismal run of six defeats in seven penalty shoot-outs was not down to luck and as well as speaking to a player from every team to have beaten England on penalties, I sought advice from the likes of Clive Woodward, Dave Alred, NFL kicking coach Doug Blevins and former Ryder Cup golfer Andrew Coltart.