Lopetegui hails debutants Aspas and Herrera

Julen Lopetegui was thrilled with the performances of Iago Aspas and Ander Herrera after the pair made their Spain debuts in Tuesday’s 2-2 friendly draw with England.

The pair were second-half substitutes at Wembley as the visitors mounted a remarkable late comeback, scoring in the 89th and 96th minutes to avoid defeat having been 2-0 down.

Aspas’ contribution was especially notable, the Celta Vigo forward cutting in from the right to curl a superb effort in off the left-hand post a minute from normal time, before Isco completed the fightback.

“Certainly we’ve seen positive things with those two guys,” Lopetegui said of Aspas and Herrera in his post-match media conference.

“They showed creativity, ambition and never gave up. I think it was a really positive start for them in a Spanish shirt.

“My feelings have to be positive. We showed the character to come back from a 2-0 deficit. We had lots of changes during the game and lots of substitutions.

“That’s what we look for when players play for the national side. Hopefully they can apply what they learned tonight in more competitive games ahead.

“The first half was an ugly, tough game for us against these speedy English forwards. The fact we came away with a draw at the end was a real credit to the defence.”