Hodgson positive after England debut

New England manager Roy Hodgson described his start to the job as "marvellous" after Ashley Young's goal was enough to earn victory in Norway.

The former West Bromwich Albion FC manager took charge of the Three Lions for the first time and was satisfied with their performance after only three days with the squad. The 64-year-old admitted there was plenty of scope for England to improve but promised the squad would be ready ahead of their UEFA EURO 2012 opener against France on 11 June.

"It was a marvellous start to my career as national coach," said Hodgson. "Norway don't lose many games here and it's a long time since we have beaten them here. There were times we could have been more positive; maybe we could have played it forward a bit quicker. That is something we need to work on, but by the time the championships come around we'll have done a lot more work. It's a positive start to my time."

However, the manager has some injury worries ahead of England's final warm-up game against Belgium at Wembley on 2 June. Hodgson said: "Scott Parker's OK – he got a knock but there was no reaction. [Gareth] Barry worries me a little more as he felt his groin so we need to get that scanned. If it's serious, it will be something for me to think about."

Meanwhile, Young refused to get carried away after his goalscoring exploits but was positive about his burgeoning partnership with Liverpool FC forward Andy Carroll. "I did alright," said the Manchester United FC winger. "I took the goal well and getting a win is good but it's up to the manager who starts.

"We have got to keep the performances up like tonight. I think [the partnership with Carroll] went well. We've been working together in training and it worked with the goal tonight. There is a good combination between us. We got the win and this was about preparation and preparing in the right way."