ENGLAND 1 DENMARK 0: Daniel Sturridge`s Late Header Saves Hodgson`s Men

                      
Daniel Sturridge's late header glossed over a lacklustre England display as the Three Lions narrowly beat Denmark 1-0. There were few positives to gain from a tricky night at Wembley in the final game before Roy Hodgson picks his 23-man squad for this summer's World Cup.

The evening provided more questions than answers with a number of experienced Three Lions stars again failing to fire, while Southampton's Adam Lallana and debutant Luke Shaw did their chances of making the plane the world of good with promising showings off the bench.

And it was the former who provided the key moment of the game as he twisted and turned before floating a ball to the back post for an unmarked Sturridge to head in on 82 minutes.


Earlier on the Liverpool striker had struggled to fire in an unfavoured position on the wing, where he has categorically stated he does not like playing in his former Chelsea days. Instead Hodgson persevered with Rooney as his main striker and watched on as the Manchester United man offered little.

A listless first-half saw neither side contribute much and the atmosphere reflected that of the game; dull.

The hosts looked to Raheem Sterling for inspiration and it was the in-form Liverpool winger who contributed the most and almost grabbed a maiden goal only to be denied by the woodwork and Jakob Ankersen’s incredible challenge following Ashley Cole’s superb cross.

Bar that chances were few and far between with the hosts dominating possession but creating little of note. Rooney and Sturridge both wasted chances while captain Steven Gerrard looked ready to pull the trigger before being cynically hacked down by Kasper Sloth, who he had earlier robbed of the ball.

There was some worry very early on in the game when Jack Wilshere went down clutching his ankle following a tasty challenge from Daniel Agger but the Arsenal man continued, however along with Rooney he again failed to convince.

But largely it was a performance that will have frustrated Hodgson with huge question marks still hanging over a nervy England backline. The Danes had their opportunities and but for a better connection from Jacob Poulsen, the hosts could have fallen behind while Joe Hart had to be alert and at his biggest to keep out Morten Rasmussen’s effort.

An ineffectual Rooney was hauled off in place of club-mate Danny Welbeck and with Sturridge operating through the middle immediately there was a greater sense of threat from the Three Lions. The substitute had to be kept at bay twice by Schmeichel while the Liverpool man's fierce striker had the Leicester keeper at full tilt.

Finally the goal did come as Lallana, working well with club colleague Shaw in tandem on the left, picked out Sturridge for the simplest of headers to save England from a dour goalless draw.

But, in truth, the strike just papered over the cracks in a display which will not leave Group D opponents Italy, Uruguay or Costa Rica particularly worried.

Elsewhere the rest of the home nations and the Republic of Ireland enjoyed mix fortunes.

Scotland enjoyed a big 1-0 win in Poland as captain Scott Brown rocketed a shot past Wojciech Szczesny on 77 minutes.

Gareth Bale inspired Wales to a 3-1 win over Iceland with a sensational performance befitting of the world's most expensive player.

The Real Madrid forward's free-kick set up James Collins to head home the opener before Johann Gudmundsson's deflected effort made the scores level.

Sam Vokes restored the host's lead after he polished off Bale's effort which was stopped on the line before the former Tottenham man got the goal he deserved when he surged through and put the ball in the top corner.

Martin O'Neill tasted defeat for the first time as the Republic of Ireland boss with his side losing 2-1 to Serbia at home.

Things looked on track when Shane Long put the hosts ahead after just eight minutes while Wes Hoolahan was wrongly denied a goal for offside.

But a James McCarthy own goal and Filip Dordevic's strike on the hour mark meant it was a disappointing night for the Irish.

And Northern Ireland fared little better as their goal drought stretched to ten games with a 0-0 stalemate in Cypress.