Now We're Waiting and Hoping for a Favour, Says Gerrard

Steven Gerrard left the scene of an ignominious night in English football, describing it as "unthinkable" that the national team were on the verge of failing to qualify for a major tournament for the first time since the World Cup in 1994.

The acting England captain spoke about a devastating and "mad" spell in the second half when he and his team-mates contributed heavily to their own downfall. Gerrard said the goalkeeper, Paul Robinson, "will feel disappointed with the second goal" and accepted his culpability after squandering a splendid chance to make it 2-0.

"I can't quite believe that qualifying is now out of our hands but, as players, we have to take the responsibility. We were in control, 1-0 up, and the game- plan was working perfectly. I had a great chance to make it 2-0 and then we had a mad five or 10 minutes when the game changed in their favor.

"We've worked so hard over the last five or six months to put ourselves in the driving seat and make ourselves favorites to go through our qualifying group. When we were 1-0 ahead, we started to believe we were nearly there and had one foot in the tournament. But football's a cruel game and chances, decisions and mistakes change football matches."

Gerrard dwelt on the penalty that was awarded against Wayne Rooney, claiming that the point of contact with Russia's Konstantin Zyrianov had been outside the penalty area. "We were hard done by," he said. "Wayne is adamant that it was outside the box but the referee seemed to overrule the linesman and give a penalty that wasn't. That turned the whole game in their favor. It gave them a lot of confidence. They were on the front foot after that and they put us under a lot of pressure. But we should really have been stronger and seen the game out."

Of his own chance Gerrard added: "I didn't expect to have so much time and I seemed to be waiting for an eternity for the ball to come down so I could hit it. But I'm disappointed because I should have done better."

The defeat means England are relying on Russia not winning their next two games before England finish against the current leaders, Croatia. "It's unthinkable that we could have a European Championships without England being there but it's very important that we don't give up," Gerrard added. "We are waiting and hoping for other people to do us a favor but we have to stick together, focus and continue believing right until the end."