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Hodgson: England players suffered for delay

The match could not be played as planned on Tuesday due to a waterlogged pitch after officials failed to close the national stadium's roof despite the city suffering from a sustained storm.

"I had a feeling yesterday that the players were looking sharp. I didn't get that feeling today," Hodgson told reporters.

"Maybe it was because we didn't play well today. I don't want to give the impression that we were hard done by. Both teams were affected."

"The pitch was difficult and the extra 36 hours in a hotel didn't do us any favours but I'm pleased with a point as we didn't do enough to win.

"Eight points under the circumstances is a fair reflection of what we've done so far and we've got a lot of football to play."

"In a qualifying group there are times that things don't go your way," he said. "It's important to come away from something like that with a positive result."