Fabio Capello blames tiredness for England’s lacklustre performance against Switzerland

Fabio Capello, England

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Fabio Capello has blamed tiredness for England’s lacklustre performance in their 2-2 draw with Switzerland at Wembley in their Group G Euro 2012 qualifying game.

The Three Lions went two goals down from two free-kicks from Tranquillo Barnetta before a Frank Lampard penalty and a smart finish from Ashley Young got them back on level terms.

The home side could have won the match as they spurned several chances, none better than the one afforded to Darren Bent, who missed a near-open goal from 10 yards out.

Speaking to ITV after the game, the England manager said: “The players were without energy.

“You can see the Switzerland players were fresher than us, they were running more.

When questioned about the English and the Switzerland players having a similar length campaign, Capello answered: “It’s a different season, a very different season.”

The Three Lions manager said he was pleased with the way his team played in the second half but again said fatigue was the cause for England losing momentum towards the end of the game.

He said: “The second half we played not so bad – it was a good reaction.

“We had three chances to score goals, clear chances, but you can see at the end of the game in the last 10 minutes some players didn’t have much energy.

“We recovered after going two goals down – the reaction of the team was good and we had chances to score a third goal, but we suffered because of tiredness.”

When asked about whether the players condition boded well for the European Championships next year he said: “We need to wait to see if we qualify, then we can prepare for the Euro’s.”

Capello expressed his disappointment at the goals England conceded but did not attach any blame to keeper Joe Hart as he stated it was difficult for him to react for both goals.

However the Italian was not happy with the way the defensive wall, which included James Milner, moved to allow Hart to be beaten at his near post.

“With the two goals conceded, for the first when people were jumping in the area, it can cause a problem for the keeper,” said Capello.

“The second goal was a mistake from the two players that were in the wall, they shouldn’t have allowed the ball to get through. This was a very big mistake.”