Roy Hodgson had nothing but praise for substitute Adam Lallana after he made a big difference in helping England come away with a 1-0 victory over Denmark.
The Southampton schemer appeared as a second half substitute and showed his quality straight away as he produced a perfect cross to pick out Daniel Sturridge who made no mistake directing a header into the corner of the net.
England 1-0 Denmark
International friendly
Wembley Stadium Connected by ee
Wednesday 5 March 2014
The England manager says he was impressed with the impact that Lallana made during his short spell on the field and was thrilled to see his side come away with a victory at Wembley.
Hodgson said: “From the 60th minute onwards we showed some really good play and Adam Lallana made a big difference.
“It was a very organised Danish team and we had to work very hard. Kasper Schmeichel had an outstanding game in goal.
“It is too hard to judge on one performance and if we want to use these players together, there is some work to do to make sure they gel.
"Our passing was a bit too slow in the first half and in the second half we got behind opposition a bit more and created the chance that led to the goal."
Hodgson had a squad of 29 players to choose from for the Denmark match and he says he is happy to have had the opportunity to experiment with his side.
He said: "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."
“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.”
Roy Hodgson
Hodgson, speaking to BBC Radio Five Live, added: "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."
Hodgson will name a provisional 30-man group on May 13, which will eventually see seven players cut before the final squad is submitted by June 2.
