England manager Roy Hodgson has admitted that his team played well below what was expected of them during Sunday's friendly draw with the Republic of Ireland.

The Three Lions prepared for their upcoming Euro 2016 qualifier against Slovenia by playing out a goalless stalemate in Dublin.

Hodgson hopes that his players can pick themselves up quickly for next weekend's trip to Ljubljana, where a win would see them take a big step towards reaching next summer's tournament in France.

"I thought we got better in the second half," he is quoted as saying by BBC Sport. "It's way below what we were hoping to achieve. All credit to Ireland, they caused us problems, particularly with balls to the front players.

"I think we needed this game and this level of competition. Going into the game against Slovenia, there's a lot of things we want to improve on."

England are currently at the top of their Euro 2016 qualifying table, six points ahead of second-placed Slovenia.