Monday 13 October 2014 09:56, UK
England captain Wayne Rooney credited the attitude of the youngsters in the squad after scoring the winner in the 1-0 win over Estonia in Tallinn.
Roy Hodgson's visitors were largely frustrated in Sunday night's European Qualifier by Estonia, who had their captain Ragnar Klavan sent off in the second half before Rooney's free-kick sealed the points - but the Manchester United man is encouraged by the emerging talent in the side.
He told Sky Sports News HQ afterwards: "There are options in the starting XI and options on the bench. It gives the manager a difficult decision to make.
"It's great and there's a lot of talk about young English players at the moment but we seem to be getting there for England and doing a good job so we're pleased with that.
"There's a lot of ambition and everyone wants to learn. It's great to see in the training camp. Not just on the pitch but in the hotel - everyone's taking in the information and wanting to get better. It's paying off on the pitch."
Having been sent off for an ugly lunge on Stewart Downing during United's 2-1 victory over West Ham on September 27, Rooney is suspended from United duty until November and admits facing a period of frustration.
The 28-year-old said: "I've got three weeks until my next game. This is football these days - there are a lot of games in domestic competitions and you've got the Champions League and obviously the internationals.
"I've always said as a player you want to be playing in games."
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere played all 90 minutes and he believes England are improving with every game.
"We're trying to become better as a team," he said. "On the pitch and off the pitch we are really close. On the pitch we are starting to become a horrible team to play against. We've got a great, compact unit there in the middle, we get after the ball and we win it.
"We talk about the 'five second fury' when we lose it - go get it back. We are starting to do those things.
"In the first half we should have scored a few goals but in the second half we felt confident. Even when they went down to 10 men it might have made it a little bit harder but we kept going, and kept going...and Wayne produced a bit of magic."
