Ashley Cole: Our tactics worked

England and Chelsea defender Ashley Cole believes that manager Roy Hodgson deployed the right tactics for the Three Lions' draw against France.

The opening Group D clash ended with a goal apiece between England and France yesterday, with the Three Lions' lack of possession-play being targeted as a slight criticism of the national side.

"If you look through the Premier League, the English players seem to be renowned for working hard for each other, always getting behind each other and I think it worked," Cole told BBC Radio Five Live.

"We tried to block the middle off to let them go wide, because we know they like to do one-twos, and I think it worked. A lot of people speak about having possession, but as a player you understand that you don't win games by just holding the ball. You have to put it in the back of the net.

"We knew their game plan was to try one-twos and we knew they would keep the ball a lot, but we stayed resilient and got a result."

England's next group clash is against Sweden, who lost 2-1 to Ukraine last night.