Dan: I thank God for my winner
DANIEL STURRIDGE urged England to keep their heads after yesterday’s win. The Liverpool striker, introduced as a half-time substitute, changed the game in England’s favour, setting up Jamie Vardy’s leveller before scoring an injury-time winner. Sturridge couldn’t hide his delight at firing England to glory in Lens, but the striker insisted Roy Hodgson’s men shouldn’t get carried away. ‘It is only one more game in the group, so no one wants to get too excited but the atmosphere is unbelievable and the togetherness here is unbelievable,’ said Sturridge. ‘I am grateful to the gaffer for the opportunity and God for allowing me to score. It is great to help the boys win the game. My brother and my cousin have travelled here to the game and it is great for them to experience this.’ Fellow substitute Vardy now hopes his goal will help him into a starting role for the rest of the tournament. On his chances of starting against Slovakia, Vardy said: ‘I will be trying my hardest in training and we will see in the next game. ‘Everyone wants to be a part of the starting line-up but it is a team game. We are all in this together and when you come off the bench you want to make an impact and luckily I did today.’ Wayne Rooney praised Hodgson for the double substitution. ‘The manager made some positive changes and it paid off for us,’ said the England skipper. ‘We kept probing and got the goal in the end. ‘It was a great feeling to win the game like we did. It will almost qualify us now and we have to win the game on Monday.’