'We deserved our victory'
Monday, 10 October, 2011
Dawson and Henderson delighted after hard-fought win in Norway.
Jamie Bradbury in Drammen
After their important and hard-fought victory in Norway on Monday night, England's goalscorers Craig Dawson and Jordan Henderson said their team deserved the three points.
West Brom defender Dawson opened the scoring with just three minutes played, and in turn registered his third goal this campaign.
Liverpool's Henderson then snatched a second four minutes later, but when Norway reduced the arrears midway through the half thanks to Valon Berisha, England were made to work for the win.
"We defended well at times and we scored some good goals, so overall we are pleased with the three points," said skipper Henderson.
"Chambo [Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain] did a bit of good work on the right, and put a good ball in, Ross hit it towards and goal and I just managed to get in there.
"I think the overall performance was good by the lads and we showed what we were about defensively.
"They [Norway] are a very good side. We knew that as we had done a lot of work on them and we knew what they were about. They showed again how good they were tonight.
"I think we deserved to win, because of the way we defended and went about the game, and the character we showed."
And Dawson echoed his team mate: "Everybody had to dig in and we got the result we wanted in the end."
As well as scoring with a header, Dawson also spent about ten minutes of the first half in the dressing room after needing stitches in a cut to his forehead.
Coach Stuart Pearce had nothing but praise for his brave central defender.
"I never cut my head open, don't worry about that, I always made sure I had my elbows up in the air and protecting my face. That's why I'm still very, very pretty," joked the former England left-back.
"He's got great courage, he's a man, is Dawson. The rest of the boys love him to bits."
"My head's a bit sore, but the result was worth it," continued Dawson.
"I had seven stitches. I went up for the header and I think I caught his boot on the way down, and it split quite easy. It's my first war wound for England. It was bleeding quite heavily.
"I was always going to come back on, definitely. The Doc just wanted to stitch it up and get me back on the field."
Dawson, who only made his debut in last month's meeting with Azerbaijan, now has a trio of headed goals for the Three Lions and says the team must continue their 100 percent run.
"I managed to get a free run, Henri got a great ball in there and I just had to go and attack it well," he said.
"It was a great performance from the lads and a great result in the end.
"It's been a great start to the campaign and we have just got to keep on going and keep pushing forward."
England now sit top of Group 8 with maximum points, three clear of Norway, and Henderson believes the result on the artificial pitch in Drammen has put them in a strong position.
He said: "We still have a lot of games to go, so we just have to keep focused and make sure we get the right results in those games."
England's next game is against Iceland at Colchester United on 10 November. Tickets are going fast so book yours quickly, click here for details.