Football
ESPN staff 10y

Roy Hodgson: More work to be done

England manager Roy Hodgson still feels his side have a lot of work to do ahead of the World Cup following their 1-0 defeat of Denmark on Wednesday.

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The Three Lions were forced to work hard to get the victory at Wembley, but they eventually found the breakthrough late on as Daniel Sturridge headed home a Adam Lallana cross.

And while Hodgson concedes it was not the greatest of displays, he is confident he has enough talent at his disposal to mould a side capable of success in Brazil.

“It would be too harsh to judge it on one performance, if we want to use all of these players together -- and I thought we had a lot of talent on the field tonight -- then there will be some work to do to make sure they gel together,'' Hodgson told ITV.

“Unfortunately in the first half, our passing was not neat enough and a bit too slow, we did not get behind the opponents enough. In the second half, we got behind a lot more and as a result created the chances which eventually led to the winning goal.''

Hodgson felt Denmark had given England a good test, adding: “Denmark were a very well organised team, they sat behind the ball well and denied us the spaces, so we had to work hard to get to the [goal] situation. Although I must say [Kasper] Schmeichel had an outstanding game in goal for them, and we could have led earlier. I thought from the 60th to 85th minute, we showed some good play.'' 

Sturridge, meanwhile, vowed to continue working hard for England wherever he is asked to do so by Hodgson.

The Liverpool striker had started on the flanks along with club teammate Raheem Sterling, before moving into a more central role when Wayne Rooney was substituted.

And after seeing a couple of chances saved by Denmark goalkeeper Schmeichel, his persistence was finally rewarded with the goal eight minutes from time.

“It was a good goal, but more important was the way that the team played. It is not about myself or my individual attributes, it is about the team, and the result we got,'' Sturridge said.

“Whichever system the manager plays me in, I will put my all into it, 100 percent. It does not matter where I play on the field, it is about making a difference, making an impact and I will just keep trying to get goals and assists from whatever position I am in.

“It was about the team, it does not matter about where you play, you have to do the job the best you can. It is about the team, it is not about me, or where I am on the pitch, questioning about what the manager is doing, it is about doing what the manager says and wherever he puts me I will do my best for him.'' 

Hodgson added on BBC Radio Five Live: "I am making a lot of experiments at the moment, giving people a chance to play who have not been with us very often. The pleasing thing for me is we are going to have four or five weeks before the first game in Brazil to work on our shape, to work on our game and I saw a lot of very positive things tonight.

"The things I think we maybe could improve, we are going to have a lot of time to work on that on the training ground, which is not something I have been used to in my two years because training ground time is often very limited. Looking at performances, you would have to be a harsh critic to say anybody played poorly or did not do their chances a bit of good. I have been very happy with these few days we have had together, with the attitude and the obviously desire of everybody to get on that plane and grab that shirt.

"It is going to mean headaches for me, but I think it is good news for England that we have so many players who are looking good and able to accept the responsibility. - Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, even young Jack Wilshere, who has not played many games for England. I must say, all of those would in my opinion come out of the game with credit.''

Information from the Press Association was used in this report

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