• World Cup qualifying

Hodgson plays down possession woes

ESPN staff
October 17, 2012
Roy Hodgson satisfied with a draw

England boss Roy Hodgson admitted that his side's display in the 1-1 draw with Poland had been one of the worst since he took charge.

Wayne Rooney gave England a first-half lead against the run of play, before Kamil Glik equalised with Joe Hart culpable.

"I don't think it was one of our better performances,'' he said. "There were lots of factors for that situation. It was a soggy pitch, a pitch suited to long balls rather than a passing game. There was also the extra 36 hours or whatever we've had to stay after the rain yesterday.

"Having said that I'm pleased with the point. I think a point here away when the group is decided next October may be good.''

Asked if his side gave away possession too cheaply, he added: "We gave the ball away a number of times but so did the Polish. We can excuse the players because of surface.

"It wasn't one of our better performances but we did get the result. It does give me heart that we still showed character.''

Steven Gerrard admitted Poland had adapted to pitch conditions better than England.

"I thought they handled the pitch better than us, which is disappointing but we're not going to grumble,'' he said. "We're disappointed not to take three points and our points tally at this stage could be better. But a point here is not a bad result.''

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