England 1 Netherlands 2: Roy Hodgson admits ‘loss of momentum’ in build up to Euro 2016 after Wembley defeat

Three Lions brought back down to earth after weekend win over world champion’s Germany

The Netherlands’ first goal came as a result of slip by John Stones when the Everton defender (left) should have cleared (Getty)

Roy Hodgson admitted that England’s Euro 2016 momentum has been halted following the Netherlands’ 2-1 Wembley victory.

After successive friendly victories against tournament favourites France and Germany, England threw away a 1-0 lead to go down against the Dutch, who failed to qualify for this summer’s European Championships.

And with optimism high of a successful tournament following Saturday’s 3-2 win in Berlin, Hodgson conceded that the Dutch victory has deflated England’s belief ahead of the three final warm-up games against Turkey, Australia and Portugal at the end of the season.

“When you have two good victories and then lose a game, momentum is lost,” Hodgson said. “I can't change that pretty obvious fact.

“But all I can say is tonight was a different team to the one which played against France and Germany.

“A lot were playing today who haven't played many games of late, so the task for them was obviously a bit harder.

“But we've got plenty of games to get our momentum back: we have three further preparation games before France, so there are opportunities to gain momentum and learn lessons from this defeat.”

England’s defeat came after Jamie Vardy had opened the scoring in the first-half with his second international goal.

But two second-half Dutch goals, one from the penalty spot following a Danny Rose handball and a second after a foul on Phil Jagielka, prompted Hodgson to bemoan the decisions which went against his team.

“I can't deny that I am frustrated,” Hodgson said. “I don't think the decisions were particularly favourable to us.

“The second was exceptionally harsh. The first one is given these days, I don't agree with it – I think the ball has to move to the hand to block the ball.

“But if I say that, I'll become a dinosaur. It was given.

“But I was more disappointed we didn't reach the same level of intensity and creativity as we did on Saturday, and our domination of the ball and territory didn't realise enough goal chances.

“I still wouldn't have come in here feeling particularly happy had we drawn because I was hoping for a better performance in front of a fantastic crowd.

“At the moment I'm bitterly disappointed having lost a home game at Wembley in front of 82,000 after such a good performance on Saturday. A low after a high.”

The Netherlands’ first goal came as a result of slip by John Stones when the Everton defender should have cleared.

And Hodgson admits that the mistake will prove a learning experience for the youngster.

“He slipped up, and when he slipped up it put them in and Fraser Forster made an excellent game, his only save of the game,” Hodgson said. “But they still scored from it because, from trying to block the cross, Danny Rose was adjudged to have handled

“I won't judge him on the fact he slipped over. He showed quite a lot of assurance.

“He tired before the end of the game, but that's because he hasn't had too many clubs games. He looked assured and comfortable.

“There weren't many occasions when I thought the Dutch would score against us, but they did score two. Perhaps I'm kidding myself.”