England captain Wayne Rooney has expressed his belief that the team's "great character" helped them to overcome a 'disappointing' first-half performance against Italy on Tuesday night.

The Three Lions found themselves a goal behind at the break of their international friendly in Turin, but an improvement in the second period was eventually rewarded when Andros Townsend's goal rescued a 1-1 draw.

The match was seen by many as a chance for England to show their progress since defeat to the Azzurri in the opening match of last summer's World Cup, and Rooney is confident that Roy Hodgson's side have improved since their group-stage exit in Brazil.

"We have [moved on from the World Cup] and I think that's why we were so disappointed with the first half. We know we're better than that. Even though we had a lot of changes, we know we are a better team than what we showed first half," Rooney told reporters.

"We were upset, I'll be honest, in the dressing room after the first half. Everyone was upset with the way we performed. It showed great character from everyone to go out in the second half to put in the performance we did, to get back in the game and were unlucky not to go on and win it.

"Italy are a great team and I think one of their biggest strengths is seeing the game out. We worked hard, we pushed the ball well, showed a lot of composure on the ball and created chances. On another night we might have scored another goal, but I think overall probably a draw for both teams was a fair result in the way the game went."

Rooney failed to get on the scoresheet in Turin despite having a couple of chances, leaving him still two goals short of Sir Bobby Charlton's all-time record of 49 for England.