England Held To Goalless Draw In Frustrating Friendly With Honduras

England were held to a draw by Honduras in their final match before the World Cup begins in Brazil, with the game delayed by an electrical storm as Roy Hodgson sweated over his side picking up injuries a week out from facing Italy.

The game was put off for 40 minutes due to the weather with safety issues forcing the players from the pitch after 23 minutes of play. When they returned, it was a physical match-up with Honduras seemingly intent on victory but neither side could find the back of the net over the course of the game.

Steven Gerrard, who had 45 minutes on the pitch alongside Wayne Rooney, expressed his frustration with his opponents who went down to 10 men over the 90 minutes.

"I thought there were some horrific tackles for a friendly," he told ITV. "I got caught with a bad one.

"I think if you look at the chances we had the better, but we're quite frustrated.

"I'm quite frustrated. I thought the ref was poor, the game was interrupted, there was a big one in the first half and they were doing stupid fouls. There was no rhythm, we're frustrated but relieved at no injuries."

The game was England's last to prepare for their first group stage match next Saturday and while it was a difficult night Roy Hodgson is only looking at the positives, insisting that with minimal injuries the side can just move on from what was a night full of frustrations.

"They got their men behind the ball and we didn't take our chances," he explained. "We attempted to make them but this is a game I will soon forget.

"I will take the draw and that we got away without injuries and that we have experience against Central American opposition."

In other news Hodgson revealed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is recovering from his injury with the manager delighted that his squad is fully fit in time for the tournament to begin.

"It's time for the real thing now," he said. "Everyone is fit. Oxlade-Chamberlain is making good progress. I think he'll make the tournament without a shadow of a doubt."