More questions than answers for Hodgson

Last week I suggested that Roy Hodgson would learn nothing positive from England’s Wembley friendly against Scotland.

Aside, dare I say it, from the fact that Rickie Lambert might be a decent alternative to Andy Carroll as a target man.

Well, that’s pretty much how it panned out.

The Southampton striker headed the winner with his first touch in international football, and flew the flag for all wannabe lower-league strikers and beetroot factory workers across the nation.

But beyond that, it was a night for more questions than answers for Hodgson.

England came from behind in an exciting game played in a terrific atmosphere albeit generated almost exclusively by Scotland fans.

As a stand-alone piece of entertainment, it was as good as you’d wish for.

Hodgson pointed out that his players showed great resolve in digging themselves out of a hole, and pronounced himself well satisfied with the whole exercise.

He conveniently glossed over some old flaws and ignored some worrying new ones.

The talent pool he’s choosing his squad from may be all-too-shallow, but not a single one of the 28 Scots on duty would have got into it.

Even so, England weren’t able to outplay, out-pass or out-think Gordon Strachan’s side.

The only difference was that Lambert and Danny Welbeck lost their markers at a couple of set-pieces.

The new concerns are that Gary Cahill was left for dead by Kenny Miller, a striker who can no longer get a game in Britain.

And Joe Hart once again showed that he is a long way short of the standards he was setting a couple of seasons ago.

If England give away goals so cheaply in any of the remaining four World Cup qualifiers, they are unlikely to find their opponents allow them off the hook the way Scotland did.

Hart’s mistake is particularly concerning because it wasn’t a one-off.

Hodgson had to come to his defence last November when Zlatan Ibrahimovic beat him four times. He made several high-profile mistakes for Manchester City last season, too.

He’s been unchallenged as first-choice for three years now, and there are those who might wonder if it’s not just an anti-dandruff shampoo that’s gone to his head.

The last thing Hodgson needed so close to the qualifiers was to be reminded of his keeper’s fallibilities, or those of the defenders in front of him.

So maybe he did learn something from this fixture after all.

He’ll just wish he hadn’t.