England will qualify - Sanchez

Lawrie Sanchez believes England will qualify for the World Cup finals despite a shock defeat against Northern Ireland which he believes will soon be nothing more than a “bad memory”.

David Healy’s second-half winner at Windsor Park ended Sven-Goran Eriksson’s record of never having lost a World Cup qualifier and left a question mark over England booking their place in Germany next summer.

But Sanchez is sure England will recover from last night’s humiliating 1-0 setback and make the most of their remaining qualifiers against Austria and Poland, both of which are at home in October.

“I think England will still qualify for the World Cup and I think they will look back on this defeat as a minor hiccup, a bad memory,” Sanchez told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“They will qualify and they will do well at the World Cup. Once they get there they have as good a chance as anyone of winning it.”

Sanchez also believes that England’s abysmal performance in Belfast showed not detract from the way his Northern Ireland side played.

“It was our night really, whatever England did or did not do,” he added.