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Roy Hodgson "very pleased" with England display

Hodgson
© PA Photos
England manager Roy Hodgson says that he was "very pleased" with his side's performance during Wednesday's 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland at Wembley.

England manager Roy Hodgson has declared himself "very pleased" with his side's performance during Wednesday's 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland at Wembley.

The Three Lions fell behind to a Shane Long header on 13 minutes, but they fought back to level midway through the first half courtesy of a close-range Frank Lampard strike.

England dominated possession and registered five more shots on target than their opponents.

However, Millwall goalkeeper David Forde kept the hosts at bay with a string of fine saves, which both frustrated and impressed Hodgson.

"I was very pleased with the second-half performance," Hodgson told BBC Sport. "We had sufficient dominance and goal chances to win the game, but we must give credit to the Irish goalkeeper.

"I can't complain about anything we did today. They scored a good goal but it was the only time they looked like scoring.

"We were probing, trying all sorts of ways of getting around them. The important victories are the ones in qualifying and I certainly feel a lot better after this match than after our previous one."

England now head to South America to face Brazil in another friendly on Sunday.

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England's Frank Lampard celebrates his equaliser with team mates in the match against Ireland on May 29, 2013
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