Sam Allardyce: 'England deserved late winner'

England manager Sam Allardyce has admitted that he was delighted with his side's 1-0 victory over Slovakia on Sunday evening.

It appeared that the Three Lions would have to be content with a point in their opening fixture under Allardyce until Adam Lallana netted a 95th-minute winner to secure the perfect start to their qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup.

Despite acknowledging that it had been a "nerve-wracking" conclusion, Allardyce feels that his team were full value for their victory in Trnava.

Allardyce told ITV Sport: "It was pretty nerve-wracking at the end. The 10-men scenario means that you must win. It was difficult to break them down because they are going to try that much harder but we got what we deserved.

"In the end, it was won in the last minute. Perhaps their goalkeeper shouldn't have stayed down injured for so long? I think Theo Walcott's goal was definitely a goal because it looked like it came off their defender but it looked like it wasn't going to be our night.

"We had 20 attempts on goal and they had seven and not many on target. We have dominated the game and got a very important win."

England are next in action when they host Malta on October 8.