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Ukraine national football team
World Cup | Qualifiers
Sep 10, 2013 at 7.45pm UK
 
England national football team

0-0

FT

Roy Hodgson hits back at England critics

Roy Hodgson defends his players after England's 0-0 draw in Ukraine on Tuesday.

England manager Roy Hodgson has hit back at his side's critics following their goalless draw in Ukraine on Tuesday.

The Three Lions played out an uninspiring 0-0 stalemate in Kiev on Tuesday that keeps them at the head of the pack for World Cup qualification in Group H.

Despite being viewed as favourites for progression, the display has drawn criticism from some areas of the media.

"If the expectations upon us are going to get so great that even when we come to places like the Ukraine we're going to be expected to roll all over them, then it's going to be very difficult for us in future to ever get a good result," Hodgson told reporters.

"So I'll stick to my guns - I thought it was a good result. I am surprised that that hasn't been the reaction back at home, but then again, who are we talking about? There is 60 million people back there so I always find that a difficult one to answer.

"And it seemed to me that before coming to the game, the feeling was certainly amongst you people (journalists) that a draw here would have been a good result. So I'm a bit surprised to hear all of a sudden, what I thought was a good performance, a good result, suddenly become yet again, an underwhelming performance."

England host Montenegro and Poland at Wembley in their final Group H games next month.

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England manager Roy Hodgson prior to kick-off in the World Cup qualifier against Ukraine on September 10, 2013
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Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Netherlands Netherlands32107
Q Senegal flag Senegal32016
3 Ecuador flag Ecuador31114
4 Qatar Qatar30030

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England32107
Q United States USA31205
3 Iran Iran31023
4 Wales flag Wales30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Argentina Argentina32016
Q Poland Poland31114
3 Mexico Mexico31114
4 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia31023

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France32016
Q Australia Australia32016
3 Tunisia Tunisia31114
4 Denmark Denmark30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Japan Japan32016
Q Spain Spain31114
3 Germany Germany31114
4 Costa Rica flag Costa Rica31023

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Morocco Morocco32107
Q Croatia Croatia31205
3 Belgium Belgium31114
4 Canada Canada30030

Group G

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Brazil Brazil32016
Q Switzerland Switzerland32016
3 Cameroon flag Cameroon31114
4 Serbia Serbia30121

Group H

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Republic of Korea South Korea31114
3 Uruguay flag Uruguay31114
4 Ghana flag Ghana31023


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