England showed great character against Ukraine, claims Lampard

Sep 12, 2012 12:08:00 AM

The Chelsea midfielder feels the Three Lions deserve credit for their performance on Tuesday night after his late penalty secured a point for Roy Hodgson's charges

Frank Lampard feels that England showed great character in their 1-1 draw with Ukraine.

The Three Lions went 1-0 down thanks to a first-half wonder strike from Yevgeni Konoplianka, but the 34-year-old struck from the penalty spot three minutes from time to earn the Three Lions a point.

The Chelsea midfielder praised the character of his team-mates, and voiced his disappointment that Jermain Defoe’s goal was ruled out when the score was 0-0.


ENGLAND 1-1 UKRAINE
8.50	Chelsea are 8.50 with Bet365 to win their west London derby against QPR 2-0

"These games are not easy and in the end getting a point is a good result considering we were 1-0 down with 10 minutes to go," Lampard told reporters.

"At the start of the game you obviously want to win it but when you consider the circumstances we had a goal disallowed, we hit the post - so in the end we showed great character to get a point.

"I thought he [the referee] pulled it back for a free kick to us, it wasn't a foul at all so we're very disappointed with that."

While refereeing decisions left the England players feeling aggrieved, Joleon Lescott also paid tribute to Ukraine for their spirited display.

"It was our toughest game, I felt, in the Euros, and they showed again what a good team they are," he said.

"There are no easy games in the group but we felt that we probably got our toughest one out of the way."

England now face minnows San Marino on October 12, before traveling to Warsaw four days later to square off against Poland.

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