Positive Pearce calls for England to be 'cuter'

England coach Stuart Pearce said his team will have to be "more incisive" in their must-win final Group B game against the Czech Republic, although he was happy with their solid defending in the goalless draw with Ukraine. Their rivals in Herning will have it all to do too, as the Ukrainians' coach Pavlo Yakovenko conceded.

Stuart Pearce, England coach
The Ukrainians are a very strong side and the game ebbed and flowed a fair bit. I have to take the positives – we defended stoutly and up the other end we were hoping to create one or two more clear-cut chances but the defending from the Ukrainians was very good. We have to win on Sunday to go through, but our destiny is in our own hands. It was physically a really tough game for the boys.

We have had two games against two really tough sides, we have come out of that and conceded one goal – a sloppy set play – and created good chances, 15 today, so it is all to play for. I still feel we can play better. We have shown in the two games flashes of decent play where we've cut the opposition open. What we have done is we have shown a solid base from the back and given ourselves a foothold in the game.

We could have been a touch more incisive, but it will go to the last match and it will be an interesting game on Sunday. I thought [Daniel Sturridge] played very well, he looked like the one that was going to score – he unloaded a thunderbolt in the first half which hit the bar, he got on the ball a fair amount and I was pleased with his contribution. He and Phil Jones put a sterling performance in; across the back line they gave us a foothold, and the subs made a contribution as well.

In the first half we didn't get a player up in support of Daniel Welbeck quickly enough. Henri Lansbury solved that problem a little bit in the second half, and Sturridge on occasions got into that pocket, but our link-up play has to be cuter. There are plenty of goals in the squad, but we have to create clearer opportunities, though saying that, Ukraine got in some really good blocks around the box.

Pavlo Yakovenko, Ukraine coach
Our team produced some effective football, but unfortunately we couldn't score a goal. We have to win the last match against Spain and it is all or nothing for us now. This was a good game for both teams. We were aiming to win so I don't want to say this was a logical outcome. Our team played really well. I want to say thanks to the players. All the teams in this group are at an equal level. There are still chances for us and we will fight until the end. The players performed adequately at the desired level.