ROY Hodgson last night claimed the postponement of Tuesday's World Cup qualifier in Poland had been a contributory factor to his side's below-par display in yesterday's rearranged fixture.

Kamil Glik's 70th-minute header cancelled out Wayne Rooney's first-half opener and means England have failed to win two of their opening four fixtures in Group H.

They remain on top of the pool, but given that Montenegro's game in hand is at home to San Marino, there is every chance that Hodgson's side will end 2013 outside the automatic qualifying position for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The England boss admits his players did not deserve any more than a point yesterday, and it can be argued they did not really merit that given that Poland were the better side for large periods in Warsaw's Stadion Narodowy.

Tuesday's postponement because of a waterlogged pitch affected England's preparations, and Hodgson felt his players were hampered more than their opponents because they were playing away from home.

"It's the same for both teams and I don't want to give the impression that we were hard done by and our opponents weren't," he said. "It affected both teams, but if a game gets postponed like that, it's easier when you're on home soil.

"We had that extra day and night in the hotel. After our first training session (on Monday night), I felt as though we were sharp and lively. But I didn't get that impression tonight.

"That could have been due to the extra night or the sodden pitch, or maybe we just didn't play well on the day. There are days when you don't hit the heights, and if you don't hit the heights then it's important you come away with something. We came away with a point, and I don't think a point in Warsaw should be looked down on."

Rooney's header, which came direct from a Steven Gerrard corner, ultimately secured England a point, but the Manchester United striker was one of a number of players to under-perform.

Joe Hart was at fault for Poland's equaliser, failing to collect Ludovic Obraniak's corner ahead of Glik, Michael Carrick was anonymous at the heart of midfield and Jermain Defoe wasted the only chance that came his way in the second half.

England's only qualifying victories have come against the minnows of Moldova and San Marino, but with their competitive programme for 2012 finished, Hodgson is keen to accentuate the positives.

"It's four games out of ten gone, and we've got eight points and are unbeaten," he said. "We've extended our unbeaten run as a team to 11 games, and can take some comfort and some credit for that.

"Ideally, we would like to be sitting here with 12 points, but to have done that we would have to have beaten Ukraine and played much better here in Poland. Under the circumstances, eight points is probably a fair reflection of what we've been able to do so far. There's a lot of football still to be played, so let's wait and see what happens in 2013."

Nevertheless, last night's game was a disappointing way to sign off ahead of next month's friendly in Sweden, even if the heavy Warsaw pitch was hardly conducive to slick, inventive attacking.

"I don't think we played that well," conceded Hodgson. "We didn't play at all well in the first half and were probably fortunate to go in 1-0 up.

"I actually thought we played a bit better in the second half, the passing which had been really poor got better. In the end, 1-1 was probably a fair result because both teams had their chances.

"The pitch was soggy. They did an excellent job to make it playable - and it was playable, there's no question about that - but it wasn't really conducive to quick passing. It's unusual for us, but we were surprised by how many passes we were putting astray."