Hodgson praises England team spirit

England manager Roy Hodgson was full of praise of the positive dressing room atmosphere ahead of the crucial World Cup qualifier against Montenegro.

It is necessary to mention that England have every reason to be in a good mood, as they have beaten mighty Brazil and put eight past minnows San-Marino in their last two games. However all of that would mean nothing should they fail to beat group leaders Montenegro and put themselves in a driving seat to reach the direct qualification for the World Cup.

However Hodgson remains adamant his team is able to bounce back and retain leadership in their group even if they lose to Montenegro. He said: “I am not trying to decry that this is a very important game, it would be very good for us if we could win this game and, if we do lose it, we do put ourselves at a great disadvantage. If we can win, that would be a nice bonus for us. We will go to the top of the group with three of the last four games at Wembley.

“But it doesn’t matter how much we talk about it and say we want to do it. It will count for nothing if we play badly and lose. Will the mood change if England lose? You are talking about mood switches outside the group, so there is nothing I could do about that. But I would be very surprised if we lost and there was a massive mood switch within the group. The group is sufficiently strong to take whatever is coming to us in terms of medicine, and get on with it and put things right,” he added.