Shearer Lauds Manchester United Star's Contribution

BBC pundits Lee Dixon and Alan Shearer believe England will be satisfied with a draw against France but cautioned that Roy Hodgson's side were likely to be undone against more illustrious opponents.

Hodgson felt England's 1-1 draw in their Group D opener was a "good platform" to build on at Euro 2012.

The England manager took charge for only his third match since replacing Fabio Capello six weeks ago and said he was satisfied with how his side matched up against the French, who are unbeaten in two years.

Nevertheless, former Newcastle and Blackburn striker Shearer insists England should have seized the initiative after Joleon Lescott gave them a 1-0 lead after half an hour.

"I am sure Roy Hodgson would have been delighted with the first 25-30 minutes, in particular Danny Welbeck who was giving the back four all sorts of problems," Shearer told BBC Sport. "He ran in behind, coming short, turning Philippe Mexes and using his pace. The French did not do that, but Welbeck was full of it and their defender did not like it.

"One thing that disappointed me is that we scored from a free-kick, but we did not put any more balls in after that. We saw the centre-backs and goalkeeper panic but we would have taken 1-1 before the game.

"For all the ball, we did not work the goalkeeper and never hit the target with the chances we had.

"I would say Welbeck was our man of the match."

England face Sweden on Friday, before rounding out their group fixtures against co-hosts Ukraine next Tuesday.

Former Arsenal defender Dixon remains adamant Hodgson's decision to play Welbeck and teenager Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was vindicated by the performance of both players but insists England were capable of beating a mediocre France side.

"It is a decent result, and a decent performance at times," said Dixon. "There are issues to address - they played quite deep at times, with the centre-backs not sure who to pick up.

"The young players did well. Danny Welbeck and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were excellent. Scott Parker was everywhere and it was an encouraging performance from them.

"France were only threatening from long-range shots, due to good defending but also because the French did not want to get in behind. They felt they could just pass the ball around England.

"England might look back at it and say they should have beaten the French with their weak backline. The two centre-backs were there for the taking, but France were expected to beat us, they were the favourites, but England come out with a lot of credit."