Roy Hodgson happy with England win

Perhaps that was just inevitable given that England had qualified for the tournament, chosen their Euro 2016 hotel and arranged most of their warm-up matches while there were still three qualifying games to go. Great cross from Nathaniel Clyne into the path of Kane, but he gets his volley all wrong, hits his standing leg and the ball runs away from goal.

Although Walcott was understandably keen to strike a cautionary note given England’s habit of underachieving at major tournaments, he also insisted Hodgson and the players deserve credit for recovering from the shattering blow of crashing out of the World Cup at the group stages. Aksalu continued to impress in the second half as well, making fine saves from Adam Lallana, who was later substituted for Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Ross Barkely, who was voted as Man of the Match after a generally strong performance.

We saw what he can do today. “Ross played with a lot of freedom tonight – you could sense his class with the ball and the manager has given him that role and he has taken it with both hands”, said Walcott. However, the 21-year-old has since made a positive start to the new campaign.

But with friendlies coming up against Spain and France, geared towards the challenges they will face at the Finals next summer, and a number of key personnel missing, Hodgson says he has a good chance to try out his options.

Theo Walcott has scored England’s 27th goal in Euro 2016 qualifying to give Roy Hodgson’s side a 1-0 half-time lead over Estonia at Wembley Stadium.

Former England striker and BetVictor Ambassador Michael Owen looks forward to England’s game against Estonia on Friday and is wild about the chances of Harry Kane striking first for the Three Lions at Wembley.

“He is maturing and getting better all the time”, said Hodgson of the Everton midfielder, who was man of the match on Friday.

“We are not the favourites but that should be the aim for us”.

The acclaimed striker marked his 50 goal in the game against Switzerland.

Roy Hodgson’s men have already secured top spot in the group and played with the handbrake firmly on as goals from Theo Walcott and Raheem Sterling were enough for maximum points. “I thought we were good value for our 2-0 win”.

“For all your preparation and all your work, if you get there and play brilliantly in the first game but lose it to a dodgy penalty, you’re a disaster”, he said. I don’t think you should write him off.

Barkley was the next England player to go close on 76 minutes but his quest for a second global goal bore no fruit as he was denied by a spectacular Aksalu save after a few neat footwork on the edge of the area.