Roy Hodgson insists England deserved their win over Norway despite having to rely on Wayne Rooney’s second-half penalty to earn victory.
The Three Lions had the better of the first half possession but failed to capitalise on any of the chances they created.
And it was only when Raheem Sterling was brought down in the area by Omar Elabdellaoui in the 68th minute that England seized their opportunity following a change in tactics midway through the second period.
England 1-0 Norway
International Match
Wednesday 3 September 2014
Wembley Stadium connected by EE
Captain Rooney stepped up and confidently fired home from 12 yards – notching his 41st goal for England in the process.
And Hodgson said: "In the end I thought we were good value for our victory.
"The injection of pace of Danny Welbeck, Fabian Delph and James Milner and a slight change in the system meant we got back on top again and started to create chances.
"The good thing with the players we have at the moment is that many are playing early matches in their international career and it's good that we have these options.
"We definitely changed the way we were playing in terms of system with about 20-25 minutes to go and I thought that worked well too when Welbeck came in behind Daniel Sturridge.
"I thought that got us going as well and in the end with a little bit of luck we would have aggravated the score. The important thing was the victory."
But despite his positive outlook, Hodgson knows there is plenty still to work on. He added: "We started the second half poorly and I was disappointed by our first 10-15 minutes at the start of the second half.
“Joe Hart had to make a couple of saves having been pretty much a bystander in the first half but luckily we got ourselves going again.”
England’s Euro 2016 qualifying campaign kicks off on Monday when the team face Switzerland in Basel.
Newcastle United midfielder Jack Colback has withdrawn from the squad through injury.
