England 2-1 Ukraine

England's players are desperate to avoid past mistakes when too much hype has hidden the reality of the team's deficiencies.

Against Ukraine last night, they would consider it a match where their mission was very much accomplished and not just because their fifth straight victory has given them an even more commanding position in Group Six.

Obviously, they would have preferred to secure the win in a manner which would keep the nation awash with anticipation of glory in South Africa.

However, perhaps this scrappy affair has done them a bigger favour because even the most partisan of supporters will now realise the team are a long way from the finished article, thereby tempering those dangerous expectations.

England should now have no concern about making it to next year's finals - even Andriy Shevchenko has conceded the group, saying: "England have qualified for the World Cup, for sure, and we will try for second place."

However, despite boasting world-class talent such as Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard, there remains plenty of scope for improvement if Fabio Capello's men are going to be genuine challengers for the game's top prize next year.

Ukraine may have reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup last time out but their clear lack of pace and quality should have ensured a more comfortable 90 minutes than England endured.

Instead, the visitors found it easy to deprive the home side time and space in midfield and it was telling that both of England's goals came from set-pieces rather than open play.

Peter Crouch scored the first on 29 minutes, volleying the ball in from close range after Terry had headed Frank Lampard's corner across goal.

Crouch, who was by no means Capello's first choice up front, was not the only one smiling afterwards as he celebrated by 'pulling out the rope', which was an adaptation of his cult robot dance inspired from his appearance on Comic Relief with Gavin And Stacey's James Corden.

But jokes aside, it took Terry to save England's blushes five minutes from time because former Chelsea team-mate Shevchenko, who is currently on loan at AC Milan, had come off the bench to equalise 16 minutes from time. It was a David Beckham freekick which caused the problems and Gerrard headed the ball down to the Chelsea defender to steer it in from six yards.

The final whistle was greeted with relief by the Wembley rather than jubilation and it was not hard to understand why. On too many occasions, long hopeful balls were punted in the direction of Crouch and possession was lost far too easily. Unlike on Saturday against Slovakia, Gerrard was anonymous for lengthy periods on the left, while on the other flank, Aaron Lennon was even more disappointing.

Only another injury will prevent Theo Walcott from retaking his place in the side for the Kazakhstan clash in June.

Capello was deprived of his first-choice striker in Emile Heskey due to injury but he blamed the team's showing on the effects of a lengthy season.

He said: "We played well in the first half but after that we lost easy passes. I think, in this period of the season, the players are not so fresh.

"Nothing surprised me about Ukraine. I watched how they played against Croatia and Belarus and it is not easy to play against them. It is not easy to find space and for this reason it was a little bit of a poor game.

"But the result is very important and I am very happy about the patience and character the players showed."

The one great cause for hope and concern in equal measure was once again Rooney, who won his 50th cap.

It is clear that he is England's best player. His passing, running with the ball and overall goal threat, stands out as much as the Wembley Arch now dominates the London skyline.

An overhead kick in the seventh minute almost ensured he celebrated his special landmark with an extraordinary goal, only for the ball to drop just over the top of the bar.

But it was a kick of a different kind in the second half that showed once again the uglier side of his game as he flew into midfielder Oleksandr Aliyev after just winning the ball first.

Referee Claus Bo Larsen saw nothing wrong with it but it was the sort of incident that might be viewed differently at a World Cup.

Capello was surprisingly relaxed about it, saying: "I didn't speak with Wayne about it. The referee said he got the ball. What happened? Nothing. It was a normal tackle."

What England really need to see more of is the striker's ability to run at defenders. Thankfully, England didn't go on to regret his loss of focus due to Terry's late intervention, which obviously denied Shevchenko an opportunity to steal the headlines for the right reasons in this country.

He was only on the pitch for 35 minutes but looked more menacing than in the two years he was at Chelsea.

The 32-year-old said: "When I played for Chelsea I had many injuries and it was a difficult time for me. Now I feel much better."