What if John Terry had not come to the rescue? No panic. This wasn’t exceptional from England, but it was OK. Of course, it had to be Andriy Shevchenko who got the Ukraine equaliser — football’s like that. Remember another Premier League flop, Hélder Postiga, scoring for Portugal against England in Euro 2004? Fabio Capello’s side almost paid heavily last night for an isolated piece of poor defending, as well as a sluggish second-half performance.

After the break, levels dropped, the tempo declined, the buzz went missing. Ashley Cole in particular looked off his game, still going forward but without the speed or self-assurance he had earlier in the season and earlier in his career.

His team-mates also lacked drive as the match wore on and the likely explanation is fatigue after Saturday’s game against Slovakia. No doubt it was a nice little earner for the FA, but it was tiring for the team. Ukraine didn’t play last weekend — perhaps that’s why they seemed fresher. A friendly against half-decent opposition shortly before an important match isn’t good preparation.

Until Ukraine’s goal it was a methodical, professional job from England of the kind we haven’t seen often enough in recent years — effective more than exciting, but a welcome change from the naivety and indiscipline of previous regimes. England were organised, with decent movement. It’s clear that under Capello, Frank Lampard will be forced to play a much more defensive role than he does for Chelsea, not taking the sort of gambles he does at club level.

Curbing Lampard’s attacking tendencies is fine as long as enough of his team-mates are positive. A shortage of bodies in the danger zone has been a problem for England in past years but it wasn’t last night, especially with Aaron Lennon so advanced up the pitch.

I cannot believe that a manager as perceptive as Capello does not really rate Peter Crouch. He offers so much — and far more than Emile Heskey. Skill, link play, scoring rate: the Portsmouth forward has the edge. They’re equally good in the air, though Heskey has more muscle. But will a striker with the physique of a hammer thrower win you the World Cup? In the later stages of the tournament, it’s technique, not brawn, that makes the difference.

Ask yourself, would Heskey have scored the chance that Crouch took? Reckon it might have gone over the bar? The argument for including Michael Owen is always that he’s a predator, but so is Crouch. The statistics prove it — they’re pretty good for a “circus act”. His gangly body shape disguises his excellent technique.

Any debate about who should play up front needs to take account of how well they will mesh with the key component of the attack, Wayne Rooney. Sharp yesterday, he’s equally happy alongside Crouch as Heskey. And when one man’s about eight times more likely to score than the other, it’s a no-brainer.