Johnson: Hodgson is making us better

Glen Johnson believes England manager Roy Hodgson will continue to help the team improve after their comeback victory over Sweden.

England defeated Erik Hamren’s 3-2 side in a thrilling match in Kiev, as the recently-appointed boss opted for two up front to combat their opponents’ supposed aerial weaknesses.

And the full-back believes the team have been going from strength to strength since the 64-year-old took control.

“Roy probably came in about four weeks before the tournament started, so it’s not long for any manager to lay down all their laws and how they want to play. But he’s putting his points across relatively quickly and the lads are learning quite quickly,” Johnson said.

The right-back’s Liverpool team-mate Andy Carroll gave England the lead, before Johnson himself levelled matters with an own goal and Olof Mellberg put Sweden ahead shortly after the break.

The match took another turn when Theo Walcott was brought on with 34 minutes remaining and he subsequently scored the equaliser before setting up Danny Welbeck’s winner.

Johnson sympathised with the fans who had to suffer the drama of the game, while praising England’s response.

“(Sweden) played well. At this level every team’s going to cause problems, and they’ve got great players like Ibrahimovic,” he said.

“I’m sure it was nerve-wracking for any England fan to watch, but I’m sure everyone will be buzzing now with the three points. As long as you get the three points it doesn’t really matter, as long as you do.

“Whenever you go behind you want to get the equaliser as quickly as possible, and when we did we knew we had about half an hour, so we knew we could, not relax, but we didn’t have to go gung-ho. We were quite confident.

“We’ve got a fantastic squad. A lot of the players are playing at the highest level week in, week out for their clubs, and I’ve been seeing them do it in training every day, so it’s not too much of a surprise.”