England 2 Slovenia 1:England warmed up for Wednesday's crucial World Cup qualifier with Croatia by overcoming Slovenia 2-1 in a friendly at Wembley thanks to goals from Frank Lampard and Jermain Defoe.

Lampard broke the deadlock from the penalty spot after 31 minutes when Bostjan Cesar was adjudged to have fouled Wayne Rooney.

Then substitute Defoe made it five goals in his last three internationals after 63 minutes before Zlatan Ljubijankic scored a late consolation for Slovenia.

After the game Defoe insists he is happy to bide his time on the bench for his country.

Defoe is now in firm contention to start Wednesday's clash against Croatia but claims he will be willing to play any role asked of him by Fabio Capello.

Defoe said: "Everyone wants to play; no one wants to sit on the bench. But at the end of the day if I can come on and make an impact like I did I'll do that.

"The manager picks the team. The first-half performance was good from the lads, and I will just keep working hard and see what happens."

Defoe scored twice in last month's friendly against Holland, while his early-season performances for Spurs have also been impressive.

He added: "I'm playing with good players, so obviously I'm going to get opportunities to score or get in positions to score.

"At the minute, everything seems to be going in - and I'm delighted."