A shock seemed possible after Jordan Henderson's unfortunate own-goal just before the hour mark, but England equalised almost immediately through a Wayne Rooney penalty and two goals from Danny Welbeck secured all three points.

Hodgson was delighted to see Rooney celebrate his 100th international cap with a goal, and he also felt England were unlucky to score just three times.

"We were fortunate having gone behind - which I did think was a bit harsh on us; we were trying hard, we were probing - to burst straight back," he said.

"It was a wonderful piece of play from Jack (Wilshere) and then Wayne (Rooney) to free himself in the box, win the penalty and then dispatch the penalty. He gave us a lot of confidence; I'm delighted for him.

"At half-time we knew we could do better, we knew we could cause them problems, we knew what we had to do.

"It was a real cold shower to go a goal down but we got back so quickly, that confidence helped lead to the next few goals. We could have had a few more then."

England maintained their 100 per cent record with the win and moved six points clear of Slovenia, who currently sit second in Group E with six points from four games.

Hodgson declared himself satisfied with England's position in the group, although he did lament his side conceding their first goal of the campaign.

"Our goal before this game was to go into the New Year with 12 points, unbeaten," Hodgson added.

"The only disappointment I suppose is that we now can no longer boast about having a clean sheet but I suppose we still can boast that no opponent has scored against us because we put the ball in our own goal for them."