Daniel Sturridge enjoys ‘unbelievable feeling’ after securing England win

Daniel Sturridge admitted scoring England's dramatic winner against Wales was an "unbelievable" feeling.

The Liverpool striker, introduced at half-time, burst into the penalty area in stoppage time to thread the ball through a crowd of players and inside the near post to seal a 2-1 Group B victory.

Fellow substitute Jamie Vardy had equalised early in the second half after Gareth Bale's free-kick had deceived England goalkeeper Joe Hart to put Wales ahead at half-time.

Sturridge told the BBC: “It’s a great feeling, unbelievable. I’m grateful for the opportunity from the gaffer.

“It’s a beautiful feeling to represent your country in a great rivalry against another country. It’s great. There’s one more game in the group to go so no one’s getting too excited but the atmosphere is unbelievable, and the togetherness between the two countries is amazing.

“It’s a great feeling and hopefully we can go through. Will I start against Slovakia? That’s the gaffer’s decision. I’ll just perform to the best I can in every game.”

Vardy made an impact 11 minutes after the break when he poked the equaliser home from close range after Wales skipper Ashley Williams inadvertently headed the ball to him.

“Everyone wants to be a part of it, but it’s a team game, there’s 23 of us and we are all in it together,” said the Leicester striker.

“To come off the bench, you want to make an impact and I I think I have today.

“We thought we were playing well, so the message at half-time was carry on doing what you are doing and hopefully the goals will come, and they have.

“Wherever we play our fans are nice and loud and sometimes they can be the 12th man.

“Hopefully we can get another win now and top the group.”

Captain Wayne Rooney, playing in midfield again, saluted the character in this England side and the depth in the squad.

“In the first half I thought did okay but we had to move ball the quicker,” said Rooney.

“We were unfortunate to go in one down, in the second half the manager made changes and it paid off.

“We kept probing and got the win in the end, we showed a lot of character today.

“We know as a group of players it’s not just an 11-man team, there are 23 players in squad and we trust each other to do a job.

“We’ve showed we have a good squad with some very exciting players and it was great to win the game like we did.

“We’ve got one game to go and we need to finish the job on Monday. It was a great victory and a fully deserved one.”

Wales goalscorer Bale insisted his men are down but not out as they look ahead to the crucial final group game against Russia.

“Obviously it’s massively disappointing but I’m very proud of everybody, we gave everything like we always do,” said the Real Madrid superstar.

“We said before the game that if we go out, give 100 per cent and have no regrets then we can’t do any more.

“We are very disappointed at the moment but inside we still feel strong, we still feel happy, we are enjoying the experience and the tournament is not over yet. We are still in the thick of it.

“Every game is important. We’ll keep fighting all the way. The fans have been amazing and we thank them for their support and we’ll keep fighting to try to qualify.”

Wales boss Chris Coleman admitted opposite number Roy Hodgson's half-time changes made all the difference.

“A point would have been fantastic, but they are a very strong team and congratulations to Roy for making some good substitutions,” he said.

“We knew we would have to ride our luck a bit and I thought we did that and we looked quite strong even though they had a lot of possession, so the two goals we gave away were disappointing.

“With 60 seconds remaining, to give up the point that we had worked so hard for was disappointing and the players are gutted.

“But we have to put it to bed and move on. For me this was the middle game of three and we have to show a reaction against a tough Russian team. It’s still all to play for.

“When you are bringing on the likes of Vardy and Sturridge, these are top players. We knew we would be up against it. But it was a good British derby. We gave them a good game and pushed them until the last minute.”

The irony of grabbing a last-gasp winner was not lost on Hodgson, who had seen his side play better against Russia last Saturday only to concede a stoppage-time equaliser.

“It’s amazing, to play so well against Russia and lose a 90th-minute goal, and today we pushed and pushed and it takes until the 92nd minute for us to get our goal,” he said.

“They say things even themselves out, but rarely in the space of two games.

“If I had been watching from afar I’d feel sorry for Wales. But I’m pleased for ourselves. It was a dominant second-half display and it took a lot of good defending to keep us out.

“We go home happy but Chris Coleman won’t be disappointed with their performance.”

Hodgson named an unchanged starting line-up from the Russia draw but insisted he always planned to bring on Vardy and Sturridge at some stage, although perhaps not as early as half-time.

“We thought a lot about what the starting XI would be but I didn’t want to start breaking eggs with a big stick, I wanted to keep one or two up our sleeves.

“But the changes were pushed onto me maybe a bit early, although it was always in our mind to get Vardy and Sturridge on the field.”