Hodgson pleased with England´s Euro 2016 seeding boost

Roy Hodgson is pleased England’s victory over Estonia and the continued 100 per cent record in Euro 2016 qualification has earned them a place in pot one for December’s draw.

England made it nine wins from nine thanks to goals from Theo Walcott and Raheem Sterling at Wembley on Friday – with a victory over Lithuania on Monday ensuring a perfect campaign.

The seedings for Euro 2016 are based on FIFA rankings and coefficient points and after the victory Hodgson told ITV Sport:  “If it’s true that this victory will ensure we’re seeded for the Euros I think that’s important too.

“It was as tough as we thought, they were a well-organised team who played quite intelligently.

“We had to work hard. We attacked a lot, had the ball and had chances but it was a question of whether we could put it away and the goal just before half-time was key.

“We were value for the 2-0 win, you have go through these games and if you lose concentration you can slip up but I’m pleased we didn’t.

“It’s always the victory [that matters], more and more we see in European football how hard it is to get results.

“All games are won by the odd goal, the really big teams are having to work harder and the teams we don’t maybe rank as highly are getting tougher and better organised.

“You have to play properly and give the opposition hardly any chances and be patient and keep working.”

Hodgson will leave behind James Milner, Michael Carrick, Gary Cahill, Wayne Rooney and Joe Hart for the trip to Lithuania, with a host of other players earning his praise on Friday.

“I must say I thought Harry Kane as centre-forward did fantastic work. Jamie Vardy was only on a few minutes before setting up the goal so we’re very satisfied with victory,” he said.

“Ross Barkley has been important to the group for a while, he’s been maturing for long time at Everton.

“It was great to see him play so well in an important qualifier. He certainly deserved a lot of credit and plaudits.”