Euro 2016 - Defiant Roy Hodgson ends up with more questions to answer after gamble backfires

All the questions had been asked, the press conference was over, yet Roy Hodgson lingered in his seat for a few seconds, staring out at those before him.

The brief glance matched his defiant tone throughout the grilling that followed England’s stalemate with Slovakia which saw Hodgson's team slip to second in Group B behind Wales.

But despite another toothless display in another match that England should have won convincingly, the 68-year-old is convinced his side is on the right track and talked up their quality over the first three games.

"I believe we have players in the team who can score goals and will score goals,” he said. "We have played three games and in each of them we have been the totally dominant team.

"We will be criticised as a team unable to take chances and score goals but that's the way it goes.”

It was understandable, perhaps, that Hodgson was frustrated. His team had controlled the game from start to finish, with Slovakia’s only real sniff of goal coming from a mix-up between Joe Hart and Chris Smalling.

It was a tough task to break down a team as stubborn as Slovakia, who had set out to clinch a point that they believe will take them through to the last 16 alongside England and Wales.

But there is no disguising the fact that Hodgson took a huge risk with his team selection. Six changes were made from what, presumably, he deems his best XI that started against Wales. Even if you allow for the fact that Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge deserved their places after their goal-scoring cameos in the second match, that still left four of the best players - including captain Wayne Rooney - on the bench.

The gamble, which was designed to keep players fresh for the latter stages of the tournament, did not pay off and now means that England face stiffer opposition than they would have done if they had topped Group B. Hungary, Iceland, Portugal or Austria now await, followed by a potential quarter-final clash with hosts France.

Much of the focus will now, as Hodgson suggested, fall on the lack of goals in the England team, despite having around 60 per cent possession and five strikers to call upon.

Sturridge was ineffective playing on the right of a front three having been so influential against Wales when playing more centrally, slightly behind Vardy. The Leicester frontman was also not quite at his sharpest, and had England's best chance saved when through on goal in the first half. But, in the second period, he struggled as the space behind the back four was swallowed up by a retreating Slovakia.

Hodgson, however, is convinced that England were simply unlucky and that sooner or later the goals will follow. He is not cowed by the possibility of a meeting with Didier Deschamps' men in the last eight either.

"I think the time will come when we will take those chances and some team might be at the end of that fairly soon," he said.

"I have great respect for the French team but first of all we need to win the round of 16. If we do get through, it will be interesting because I don't think they will play against us the same way Russia, Wales and Slovakia did."

WIth FA chairman Greg Dyke intimating that Hodgson will only definitely keep his job if England reach the semi-finals, the manager must hope that this glut of goals comes in the next round, and a victory follows, in whatever form, in the last eight as well.

He defiantly answered all of his questions after the Slovakia game, but now his team has more than ever to ponder if they are to mount a serious challenge at Euro 2016.