France coach Laurent Blanc takes swipe at England

Lescott opens the scoring (GETTY IMAGES)

France coach Laurent Blanc took a swipe at England by suggesting a "really good side" would have punished their under-performance in Monday's 1-1 draw.

Roy Hodgson's men enjoyed the better of the early exchanges in the first half and took the lead through Joleon Lescott's 30th-minute header.

However, France came back into the game and Lescott's Manchester City team-mate Samir Nasri scored the equaliser.

Blanc's side finished the match the stronger but could not force a winner, and the coach admitted their poor first-half showing could - and possibly should - have cost them.

Discussing his team plans for tomorrow's match against Ukraine, Blanc said: "Regardless of who starts they just need to relax because we can't repeat the first 30 minutes against England.

"If we had played against a really good side it would have been over."

PA