IMPACT ... Theo Walcott was used as a substitute again

What did you make of Roy Hodgson’s starting line-up?

It was very much safety first and in keeping with his previous starting line-ups for England.

The aim was to clearly make us hard to beat first, rather than going all out for the win from the off.

He said he was going to play Wayne Rooney from the start and he did. So there were no real surprises. We all knew what the starting line-up would be and so did Ukraine.

After the 3-2 win over Sweden on Friday, you called for Theo Walcott to be given a start. How disappointed were you to see him on the bench?

I was a little bit disappointed. As an England fan and a former striker, I would always prefer teams to have a go and get at the opposition, rather than defend deep, invite them on and soak up the pressure.

But I could see what Hodgson wanted to do and why he kept faith with James Milner on the right.

He gives us something extra defensively and does provide cover for Glen Johnson.

But the flip side of that is that England do not look as dangerous on the attack.

After finishing so strongly against Sweden, how do you explain our sluggish start against Ukraine?

That is because we finished the game against Sweden with a more attacking formation with attackers on each wing.

Last night, we set up a bit more defensively, like we were in the first half against the Swedes.

Ashley Young got past his defender once in the first half, I think. But it seemed every time he and Milner got the ball in the first half their first inclination was to stop and turn backwards.

We spent most of the first half playing in front of Ukraine.

It was a dangerous game, even though they did not offer much.

That said we should have still come in at half-time 1-0 up as Rooney should have scored when he headed Young’s cross wide from just about six yards out.

Thank heavens he made amends after the break.

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