Hodgson upbeat despite England defeats

Roy Hodgson remains positive about England’s progress despite back-to-back home defeats against Chile and Germany.

England had not lost two consecutive games at Wembley since 1977 and Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to Germany saw questions raised about their ability to cope with top international opposition.

While acknowledging the frustration of some supporters, Hodgson is refusing to push the panic button after England started the year unbeaten in 10 matches.

“I guess I am prepared (for the criticism),” he said. “People will write what they want to write. They will say what they want to say. But we know what we are doing. We know we are going forward.

“There was probably too much euphoria after the October games (against Montenegro and Poland that confirmed England’s place at the FIFA World Cup).

“I understand that. I never got carried away by that. But I am a little bit disappointed that you want to dismiss everything in 2013 on the basis of two very, very tough matches against two top-class teams with a lot of experimentation going on.

“The players were disappointed about (the two results) but does it really concern me for next June? I am not sure it does.”

England have one further friendly in March, against Denmark, before they travel to Brazil for the finals in June.