London, Oct 18(ANI): England manager Roy Hodgson has blamed the one-day postponement of their World Cup qualifying match due to waterlogged pitch for their 1-1 draw against Poland, and it has been revealed that the players were so disturbed by the bizarre condition that they had to take sleeping pills to sleep.
With the England squad having rested and eaten on Tuesday in anticipation of playing, the sudden abandonment of the match because of a waterlogged pitch had left some with excess energy and unable to sleep until the early hours of Wednesday.
It also emerged that a number of the squad had taken caffeine-filled energy tablets on Tuesday.
Hodgson admitted that England were far from their best but was ultimately satisfied to grind out a draw on a pitch that was clearly still not fully recovered from being waterlogged the previous day.
"I don't think we played that well. As far as we're concerned, the extra day and stay over, the sogginess of the pitch didn't work in our favour," the Telegraph quoted Hodgson, as saying.
"It was a bit of a dead pitch. It wasn't suited to quick passing. It's a bit easier if a game's postponed if you're on home soil. I had the impression earlier in the week that the players were looking sharp and lively. I didn't have that impression today," he added.
"There are days when things don't go your way. It's important to come away with a result you can regard as a positive one. We've played four games out of 10 and have eight points. There's a lot of football to be played and let's wait and see what happens in 2013," he said. (ANI)
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