WC 2015 ENG vs SL: We can still make it to quarterfinals, says Eoin Morgan

Wellington: England captain Eoin Morgan insisted he was still confident of reaching the World Cup quarterfinals, despite Sunday's "hard to take" nine-wicket loss against Sri Lanka.

The defeat leaves England on the brink of an early exit after heavy losses to New Zealand and Australia in their opening matches.

England's final Pool A matches against Bangladesh and Afghanistan now loom as must-win clashes but Morgan said he had not considered failing to make the last eight.

"It's not even a thought at the moment, two games to win to get us into the quarterfinal," he said.

Morgan said the fact that England set a competitive 310-run target made the Sri Lanka loss more difficult to accept than the routs against Australia and New Zealand, when they were never in the game.

Read: Joe Root becomes youngest England batsman to score World Cup hundred

"When you don't turn up for a race like those first two games, it's scratch. But when we turn up and we're beaten in that fashion it's harder to take."

Morgan said England performed with the bat, particularly Joe Root who made 121, but failed with the ball to allow Sri Lanka to finish on 312-1.

"When we bowl one bad ball, every couple of overs or every over you're going to be punished," he said.

Morgan said England remained a quality side that needed to work on "the simple things" to click at the tournament.

"It's not out of our reach or a million miles away," he said. "It's just continuing to reproduce the simple things consistently."