England have beaten Italy 2-1 in their international friendly in Berne on Wednesday night.
Roy Hodgson rested a number of his more senior figures and introduced a raft of younger faces to the Three Lions’ squad for the exhibition match in Switzerland.
Daniele De Rossi put the Azzurri into the lead early on, before Phil Jagielka equalised for the home nation. Jermain Defoe popped up with ten minutes remaining to score the winner.
Hodgson confessed that he was happy with the win and hailed some of the new players.
“I’m pleased,” the England manager told Sky Sports.
“It was the type of game I sort of expected; two teams with a lot of changes looking to make a big impression ahead of the qualification campaign.
“I am happy with the way we responded to that challenge and the performance we gave.
“It’s the qualifiers that really count, but it’s nice to know we have a deeper squad of players than that we took to the Euros.
“In the Euros, especially towards the end and the second half against Italy where they dominated, we did have an excuse.
“We were a bit tired at that time. It wasn’t a typical performance from an England team, and not the way we want to play.
“This is the way we want to play,” he concluded.
By Gareth McKnight
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