Spain beats England 2-0 thanks to Gaspar’s superb volley

“The gap might be a gap in terms of their style of play, which is very possession-based, and our style of play, which is probably less possession-based”.

Carrick previously had surgery on an ankle ligament injury in July 2014, causing him to miss the first 12 weeks of the season and has been forced to miss several games since with various problems.

“I think it’s great for the country because in previous years we’ve gone into tournaments and we haven’t really had that many match winners in the squad and now we’ve got quite a few which can certainly benefit us as a team”.

“We can analyse it and see what we need to do better”.

England have not lost a match for 17 months, since defeat to Uruguay sent them crashing out of the World Cup.

Manager Roy Hodgson felt his side were unlucky with the timing of Mario’s stunning opener: “I’m a bit disappointed because for 70 minutes I thought we defended very well”.

Wayne Rooney came on as a late sub while – to be fair – Hodgson remains without Daniel Sturridge, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jordan Henderson, Luke Shaw and Leighton Baines, all of whom are injured.

England face France in the second of their two worldwide friendlies during the break next week, and Hodgson will hope for an improved performance and result as his side continue to look for a confidence boost against one of their main rivals next summer.

The Spanish enjoyed 64 per cent possession compared to 36 per cent for Hodgson’s men.

Fabregas telegraphed a attractive 40-yard ball over the England defence for Diego Costa, but Phil Jones recovered just in time to deny the Chelsea striker. Could Tony Daley and Carlton Palmer make it into this team?

Sergio Busquets flashed a volley past the post when England failed to clear a corner and fellow Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta played a typically delightful throughball for Paco Alcacer to escape the England defence but drag his shot beyond Joe Hart’s far upright.

A spokesman for the English Football Association said they would liaise with their French counterparts over the weekend before taking a decision on whether the game will go ahead.

The goalless draw looks generously-priced at 11.00, while one goal in the match can be backed at 4.89. “We had moments in the game, but we didn’t profit from those moments”. It was a poor goal to concede on a counter-attack for us.

He will know it is all very well having a good centre forward but it’s less relevant if you can only get the ball to him once every half an hour. We can’t afford to give balls away in those areas.