James takes the positives
Sunday, 11 October, 2009
David James says there were positives to take from defeat in Dnipro.
David James says that England are disappointed they could not maintain their winning record in qualification, but says that there a number of positives to take from defeat in Dnipro.
James replaced Aaron Lennon after just 15 minutes, following Robert Green's red card, and the Portsmouth 'keeper said the players were unfortunate to lose despite playing for so long with ten men.
James said after the game he was "frustrated with the fact we lost" and went on to add: "We wanted to maintain our 100 per cent record in the competition.
"Given the circimstances, with Rio the covering defending, you would hope Greeny wouldn't have been sent off. But he has unfortunately.
"We dominated the game and, although disappointed with the defeat, there are a lot of positives to take out of the game, definitely.
"I have never had to come off the bench and face a penalty before. I was fortunate I did my warm-up properly so my preparation was right
"It was a shame the goal was going in the way it did because I think it was going wide before Ashley intervened with the deflection.
"Overall there was some good stuff from us and the 75 minutes we played with ten men, it was a tremendous effort."
When Green was dismissed James knew that he would be called upon and says he felt ready.
"I was taping my fingers up, the ring beneath my gloves. The ref showed the red card to Rio first of all so I wasn't sure if it was chance for me to go on.
"I was prepared to go on and you have to be prepared to go on in the first minute. I felt ready."
James feels the scoreline is not reflective of the match, as Engladn suffered their first competitive defeat under Capello.
"On the pure result basis, it is not great but for 75 minutes, despite the fact we were down to ten men, we had a lot of possession, created quite a few chances and a few half chances, possibly more than they did.
"For ten men it was a very good performance. We wanted to win and at least get a draw out of it but I don't think you can fault any of the effort today."