PAINFUL EXIT ... England defender Johnson

GLEN JOHNSON admits England will never be top contenders at major tournaments until they learn to keep the ball.

As the inquests into Sunday’s shootout defeat by Italy got under way, the Liverpool full-back delivered a searinglyhonest assessment of the team’s Euro 2012 campaign.

While Roy Hodgson’s men get an A for effort and commitment, they merit only a dismal D for possession and penetration. They were passed into oblivion by a technically-superior side on a painful night in Kiev.

Johnson admitted: “We allowed Italy too much possession and when you haven’t got the ball you are always working harder than the opposition.

“As a result, when we did get the ball, we weren’t fresh enough to cause as much damage as we would have liked.

“It’s disappointing to be going home like this. The way we were set out and worked so hard for each other meant we were always going to be hard to beat.

“But as a team, you will only go so far with defending all the time.