England manager Roy Hodgson has leaped to the defence of his squad and insisted that he was right to lose his temper during a post-match press conference following the 1-0 win over Norway.

The Three Lions boss blasted the media when it was put to him that his side only managed two shots on target during the friendly, but he is standing by his vociferous remarks.

"I am entitled to be unhappy when I get questions about only having two shots on target," he told reporters.

"There was a lot of euphoria before the World Cup. We were getting 75,000 people to see us play Peru, who, with respect, were nowhere near as difficult an opponent as Norway. And now we have 40,000.

"I can't put that right because I can't turn the clock back, but what I can do is analyse what I have seen and judge that through my eyes, and not judge it because someone is going to tell me, 'Well, you only had two shots at goal'."

Hodgson went on to urge England fans to back the younger members of his squad, who he claims are "top-class" footballers in the making.

He added: "Some of these players are top-class players in the making, but the players are in the making: you can't play five or six games for England and be a regular at Liverpool for six or seven months and then be David Beckham.

"You can't be Phil Jones with all the injuries he has had and nail down a place in the Manchester United first team and then become John Terry. You can't be Jack Wilshere, who has lost all that football through injury and then all of a sudden be Bryan Robson. Let's be fair on all of these things. That's all I am asking.

"Allow me to be excited about what they can do and allow me to stand up and say I think my team played well at a press conference when I think they have."

England kick off their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign on Monday away to Switzerland.