Antonio Conte "pleased" with England draw

Italy manager Antonio Conte has declared himself "pleased" with Tuesday night's 1-1 draw against England in Turin.

The Azzurri took a lead into the break courtesy of a glancing Graziano Pelle header but were pegged back 11 minutes from time when substitute Andros Townsend thumped an equaliser past Gianluigi Buffon.

Conte admitted that it was a "shame" to miss out on the victory but believes that he learned a lot about some of his players, such as debutant Mirko Valdifiori.

"It's a shame [to concede the equaliser] because we had a lot of chances against a good England team," Conte told the Italian Football Federation's official website.

"Nevertheless, I'm pleased because I got answers from all the players, both the ones that played the full 90 minutes and others, such as Valdifiori, who played only 60.

"We still need to continue to work hard in order to allow the players to develop and be ready at international level. We need them to gain confidence for them to get even better."

Conte is still unbeaten as Italy manager, winning five and drawing three of his eight matches at the helm.