Brian McDermott has conceded England's hopes of reaching the Rugby League World Cup semi-finals may already be over, the head coach ­blaming the tournament's format and their opening loss to Tonga.

The World Cup has been reduced to 10 teams, down from 16 four years ago. That is largely due to financial reasons when the hosts, Australia, stepped in after France's withdrawal. That has led to a unique format, with different levels of jeopardy for ­different countries based on their group.

England are in the three-team Group B with the top two from a combined six-team table of Groups B and C progressing to the semi-finals. Defeat to Tonga last Saturday has made it difficult for England to qualify, with expected victories against France on Saturday and Papua New Guinea next week unlikely to be enough.

For England to progress, Tonga must beat Samoa on 1 November and England need to win their two group games by a bigger margin than Samoa. McDermott conceded the odds are stacked against his side and was critical of the format.

"The jeopardy of losing one game in a pool of three is so harsh, it's almost like we don't get another chance to straighten things out," he said. "It's just harsh that we have to take a standing eight count in that first round, but we're ready to go again.

"Nothing has gone wrong, it's just a harsh competition in which you've got to hit the ground running, which we didn't do.

"I'm trying to be diplomatic here. If France held the World Cup, there would have been more teams in it and it would have been more like the usual format. I completely understand that if it has to be reduced to a 10-team competition.

"It's not the easiest thing to do and we end up with situations like this. If you lose one game, you don't really get a chance to fix it. It's tough because we now need to rely on other results if we are to go through."

In contrast, New Zealand are in the four-team Group A where two teams progress and despite losing to Australia last week wins over Fiji and Cook Islands will secure qualification.

"New Zealand have lost their first game as well, but they're going to get another go at it," said ­McDermott. "The likelihood is that they'll ­quality, their destiny is not lying in other ­people's hands."

England have to inflict a second heavy defeat on after France's 78-4 loss to Samoa last Friday.

England's 30-12 defeat to Tonga drew criticism, but ­McDermott had promised his side would try to play a more enterprising brand of rugby. Also, England had been in Australia for less than a week, after a 48-hour journey from Manchester via London, Singapore and Sydney to reach their camp in Perth.

That is perhaps why ­McDermott has resisted the temptation for wholesale changes, with the ­Warrington winger Matty Ashton replacing Zach Eckersley in the sole change to the starting lineup.

England may be going home in a fortnight barring a minor miracle, but McDermott is upbeat about the national team's long-term prospects. "I'm really pumped about what we've done over a short period of time; it's been remarkable, really," he said.

"We've come together and looked pretty good. We've laid some ­foundations and we're pretty excited about where this could go. I don't think there's a great need for change, just give me another three or four games with this mob. Let's build some ­layers of preparation with each other."

However, for that to happen there is likely to be a post-tournament inquest into the national team's place on English rugby league's priority list.

With no mid-season camps, let alone games, and the schedule for a home three-Test series against New Zealand next autumn not yet confirmed, McDermott and his players need more support from above if England are to prove they are victims of the format and not drifting from the top tier of the international game.