England vs Norway: Roy Hodgson claims his side's performance was 'quite good' - despite registering just two shots on target

Manager says his team is ready to make life difficult for Switzerland in the European Championships qualifier on Monday

Roy Hodgson speaks to his players during a water break (Getty Images)

Roy Hodgson has reacted angrily at the suggestion that the poverty of England's performance against Norway was proven by their having just two shots on target.

England eventually beat Norway 1-0 - Hodgson insisted the performance was "quite good" - but disputed the importance of measuring shots on target.

"Don't give me that one," Hodgson said, when told of England's two accurate attempts. "Two shots on target? What about all the ones they threw themselves in front of? Don't hit me with statistics. When we had that much possession, and you talk about two shots on target?"

Although England needed a second-half Wayne Rooney penalty to win the game, their first since the World Cup, Hodgson predicted it would be his team making life difficult for Switzerland on Monday.

"We're not scoring a lot of goals, but we're not playing against teams who come out against us a lot. This team will score goals. They'll score goals. Rooney will score goals. Welbeck will score goals. Switzerland will need to beat us. If anything, we might be Norway on Monday."

England's best spell came in the final 20 minutes, when they switched to a diamond midfield, and Hodgson also took pride in some of the first-half play.

"I thought the performance was quite good," he said. "I was pleased with the first half, we probed well, good movements. I was disappointed with the start of the second half when we didn't do anything as like as well for the first 15 minutes, but then we changed things, changed the formation slightly, and finished the game strongly."

"When Raheem Sterling moved into the centre he showed the full range of his dribbling ability, so it's nice to know we have these options and won't be totally restricted to one way of playing."

Despite his penalty, Rooney had a quiet night in his first game as full-time England captain, but Hodgson backed him to rediscover his form.

"It's early days," Hodgson said. "If every time we play I've either got to praise a player to the skies or criticise a player and say it's not going to work, that's a bit harsh. Wayne will tell you he can play better than that and have better games. Of course he can, we know what kind of player he is."