Joe Hart picks out England's positives from Euro 2016 opener

Saturday 11 Jun 2016
Joe Hart bowls the ball out against Russia

Joe Hart insists England will take the positives from their performance despite being held to a 1-1 draw in their Euro 2016 opener against Russia.

The Three Lions dominated the game and had a host of chances prior to Eric Dier putting them 1-0 up with a 73rd minute free-kick. 

England 1-1 Russia

UEFA Euro 2016
Group B
Saturday 11 June 2016
Stade Velodrome, Marseille
Live on ITV

But Vasili Berezutski's looping header two minutes into stoppage time left Roy Hodgson’s men feeling deflated in Marseille.

However, England keeper Hart claims he and his team-mates can be encouraged by their display, saying: "It was a good performance - but a good performance is a win in tournament football.

"We played well, played some good football and deserved to win, but fair play to Russia – they stayed in the game and scored a goal.

"It’s definitely not tough to take the positives out of the game -  we played well. We are going to build on it, we are going to get better and we are going to win more games."

England's young side controlled the majority of the game, with Spurs duo Dele Alli and Dier looking accomplished in midfield alongside captain Wayne Rooney.

Hart added: "I thought they were fantastic tonight – there are a lot of positives and that’s what we’re going to have to draw on. 

"There are other times in the Premier League when you can dwell on things but we haven’t got 38 games here – we have to take the positives and move on."

By FA Staff