• Euro 2012

Hodgson: We must be clinical in front of goal

Roy Hodgson wants England to be ruthless in the final third © Getty Images

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Roy Hodgson admits England must start being more "clinical" if they are to progress to the latter stages of Euro 2012.

England produced a solid, if unspectacular, display to draw with France in their opening Group D clash on Monday, but goals will be of paramount importance as they look for a first victory in the competition against Sweden on Friday.

Much of the reaction to England's performance has been positive, although the overriding feeling appears to be that the Three Lions will need to show more going forward if they are to worry the leading contenders later in the tournament.

And Hodgson agrees with this assessment, the manager insisting his team must make the most of chances when they present themselves.

"I was happy with the start, I though we played quite well against the French," he said. "I thought certain aspects of our game were good and we must maintain that and of course, if we are going to win matches, we have to work hard on the attacking side of our game and to try and make certain that when we do get these good counter attacking opportunities we maximise them and take advantage to the full.

"When we win the ball back and we break out we've got to make certain the last cross, the last pass or actual shot is clinical. It's hard to get good goal chances at this level of football - you're not going to get many during the course of a game and you have to be very effective when chances come your way.

"And I 'm not talking about the clear-cut one-on-one chances with the goalkeeper, I'm often talking about the situations where you've got behind the defence in a wider area and it's then a question of making sure the last pass gives someone a chance to score. That's something we'll be working on consistently."

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