The Chelsea midfielder was as disappointed as anyone that the Three Lions conceded a late goal to prevent what would have been a morale-boosting and deserved victory.

But he believes the quality of England’s display in the Amsterdam Arena was high enough to give players and fans confidence in the team’s future.

He said: "It was a good performance and a decent result, even though I think we should have won the game. But there is more to be done and more to look forward to.

"We have quite a long break until our next game now but we have to carry on from tonight and look forward."

The result came hot on the heels of a frustrating night in Zagreb when England were beaten by Croatia and there is no doubt that Head Coach McClaren would have been proud of his players.

Lampard said: "The manager was pleased with the way we played and he pointed out the positives. But he also mentioned, of course, the things we didn’t do well - like concede a goal at the end, which was disappointing.

"But the overall message was a positive one. We want to come and win these games but the performance we produced can give us a lot of confidence for the future.

"In Croatia we didn’t perform as well as we could do but this time we performed better as a team and that is encouraging. Now it’s up to us to take it on when the qualifying fixtures begin again next year."