Stuart Pearce rubbed salt into "arrogant" Spain's wounds by claiming England would have thrashed them on Sunday had they had enjoyed as much possession in their European Under-21 Championship opener.
Pearce's Young Lions were chasing shadows almost from start to finish in the Group B clash in Herning but their opponents failed to turn their dominance into goals as Danny Welbeck salvaged a 1-1 draw.
"If we had kept the ball away from the Spanish team for that period of time over 90 minutes, we'd have maybe won the game 4-0," Pearce said. "We stuck at it, we kept going, and sometimes you get rewards. I don't think our goal was threatened a great deal over the 90 minutes."
He added: "The goalkeeper's hardly had too much to deal with.
"I was sat on the touchline and even though we didn't have possession of the ball, I didn't feel as though the opposition were going to score a goal. It's not often you can say that."
Nevertheless, Pearce admitted England could not risk a repeat performance in their next two games against Ukraine on Wednesday and group leaders Czech Republic next Sunday.
After watching the game I feel that England can only get better as the tournament progresses and I would fully back them to get to the final.
Other results from the Under 21's championships:
Belarus 2 - 0 Iceland
Denmark 0 - 1 Switzerland
Matt Cooper
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