ENGLAND captain Steven Gerrard admitted they were deservedly made to pay for their second half lapse as Montenegro fought back for a 1-1 draw in their World Cup qualifier.

Roy Hodgson’s side got off to an ideal start and Wayne Rooney put them ahead early on, but they failed to capitalise further on their dominance.

The hosts were a different side after the break and Dejan Damjanovic earned them a point.

Gerrard said: ‘‘We stopped playing after the break for 20 or 30 minutes and away from home you can’t afford to do that.

‘‘We stopped passing the ball and that’s when we lost control and I think they deserved the equaliser.’’ England boss Roy Hodgson tried to focus on the positives.

He said: ‘‘I thought our first half was very good, but we obviously did not start the second half as we would have liked to and that gave Montenegro some encouragement.

‘‘But I thought we hung on well and even finished the game quite strongly.

Unfortunately in that good spell they got the equaliser and robbed us of the chance of victory here, but all things considered we mustn’t be too disappointed.

‘‘It’s a long way to go yet and a draw here is something which gives us a chance to build for the future.’’ England have now drawn 1-1 at home to Ukraine and away to Poland and Montenegro.