England midfielder Declan Rice said the Three Lions did enough to beat Hungary in their 1-1 draw on Tuesday.
Gareth Southgate’s side had to come from a goal down after Roland Sallai scored from the penalty spot, and could only manage a point at Wembley thanks to John Stones’ equaliser.
But Rice insists that England played well and were simply stifled by an impressive Hungary side.
“You can say it’s poor because we drew the game but we dominated,” Rice told ITV. “It was a silly penalty to give away, good to get back into the game, had to keep our heads, had to keep playing, but we just couldn’t find that killer touch at the end to get the win.
“I think sometimes you have to give credit to how the opposition are. Hungary were much better than when we played them away. They were really tight, really compact, and when you play against low blocks, it’s hard to create stuff but I still thought we did enough to win the game.”
Rice played in a midfield three alongside Mason Mount and Phil Foden for the first time, and they appeared to lack cohesion, but the West Ham man insists it will take time for them to get used to playing with each other.
“Yeah, of course [it’ll take time to get used to],” he continued. “I think that’s the first time we’ve played together as a three. Of course I’ve played as one and Mason to the side but we’ve never played with Phil. Nothing changes, we know what the manager’s asking of us, what Steve [Holland] is asking of us. We have to put that into practice on the pitch.”
Rice was also adamant that Hungary were lucky to win the game-changing penalty in the first half because of how the game is officiated nowadays.
Luke Shaw brought down Loic Nego while trying to clear the ball, and the referee deemed it as a dangerous challenge and pointed to the spot.
“I think when you put your foot up that high, maybe it could be, but the way he went down was pathetic if I’m being honest with you,” Rice added. “He was holding his head. If you put the foot up in the box these days it’s a penalty.”