England manager Roy Hodgson has admitted that he was "harsh" to his players but is desperate to avoid becoming complacent.
The Three Lions beat Montenegro 4-1 at Wembley on Friday and sit a point above Ukraine heading into their final World Cup qualifier against Poland on Tuesday.
With Ukraine taking on bottom county San Marino on the same night, Hodgson believes that the job is only half done for England.
"Sometimes it is easier to be harsh when people have done well - and I was harsh," said Hodgson of his own reaction to victory over Montenegro. "I was very keen to point out one or two things to them. It wasn't anything celebratory.
"I will say this until I am blue in the face, but the one thing I want to guard against is complacency.
"I don't imagine there will be any and certainly after the things I said to them they will have a pretty good idea where I stand on the subject."
England last failed to qualify for a major tournament when they were unable to reach the finals of Euro 2008.