Joe Hart and Roy Hodgson claim England were unsettled by postponement in Poland and needed sleeping pills

England’s preparations for Wednesday’s disjointed 1-1 draw against Poland were undermined by the need for several players to take sleeping pills the previous evening as they struggled to settle following the bizarre postponement of the fixture on Tuesday.

 

 

With the England squad having rested and eaten on Tuesday in anticipation of playing, the sudden abandonment of the match because of a waterlogged pitch had left some with excess energy and unable to sleep until the early hours of Wednesday. It also emerged that a number of the squad had taken caffeine-filled energy tablets on Tuesday.

The players refused to attribute their poor performance to such disrupted preparations but they did look collectively weary and short of energy as they struggled to string their passes together.

Joe Hart, the England goalkeeper, accepted the blame for Poland’s equaliser after leaving his goal to collect a cross and then failing to prevent Kamil Glik’s header.

“I came and didn’t get there and the lad did a decent header,” said Hart.

“It’s my fault, I should have punch it or stayed in goal. I didn’t do either and it cost us.”

Roy Hodgson, the England manager, admitted that England were far from their best but was ultimately satisfied to grind out a draw on a pitch that was clearly still not fully recovered from being waterlogged the previous day.

“I don’t think we played that well,” said Hodgson. “As far as we’re concerned, the extra day and stay over, the sogginess of the pitch didn’t work in our favour.
"It was a bit of a dead pitch. It wasn’t suited to quick passing.

“It’s a bit easier if a game’s postponed if you’re on home soil. I had the impression earlier in the week that the players were looking sharp and lively. I didn’t have that impression today.
“There are days when things don’t go your way. It’s important to come away with a result you can regard as a positive one.

"We’ve played four games out of 10 and have eight points. There’s a lot of football to be played and let’s wait and see what happens in 2013.”

James Milner, the England midfielder, admitted that the late cancellation of the match on Tuesday had been challenging for the players. “It is not ideal,” he said.

“You have all your meetings, you go into the dressing room and we have had our massages. We put strapping on, boots on, tie-ups on, we are ready to go out and then we get told to wait.”