Roy Hodgson relieved Andros Townsend gamble paid off

England manager Roy Hodgson has admitted that he agonised over whether to start Andros Townsend against Montenegro, while praising the youngster for a breakthrough performance at international level.

Townsend scored from range on his England debut to help Hodgson's side record a 4-1 win over Montenegro, keeping them top of a close World Cup qualifying Group H with one round of fixtures left to play.

Hodgson revealed that he found it difficult to leave out James Milner and Jack Wilshere in favour of Townsend, who justified his selection with a man-of-the-match display.

He told ITV Sport: "Well, we agonised over it I must say. We had plenty of discussions and argued things back and forth because on this occasion we did have so many players we could choose from.

"To leave people like Jack and James Milner out of an important game like this with their talent and experience was not an easy decision.

"But, of course, we're glad it worked out well for us. I thought Andros, who got the man-of-the-match award, must be delighted with his evening's work. Sometimes you are lucky in those things, you envisage something and it comes off, but it doesn't always work out that way."

England can now secure their place in next summer's finals with a victory over Poland on Tuesday at Wembley.