England and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Scott Parker believes that the Three Lions team should be praised for their battling performance against Ukraine.

Roy Hodgson's side clinched the top spot of Group D following a 1-0 win over the co-hosts in Donetsk last night.

Despite receiving the vital three points, England came under some criticism for their poor first-half performance and were handed a slice of luck when a goal for Ukraine was disallowed, despite the ball crossing the line.

"They were a good organised team," said Parker. "Obviously they're good on the counter-attack. In the hostile environment that it was they put us under pressure at times.

"They had some good chances but I think if there's one thing we've shown during this tournament it's that we've got some good resilience about us. We really dogged it out.

"I think everyone man-for-man stood up and was counted for. The back four were immense and everyone deserves massive credit really. We've done pretty well. We realise it's just the start and we move on to the next game now but hopefully we can keep going."

England will face Italy in the quarter-final on Sunday.