England warm up for Croatia clash with Slovenia win

England warmed up for their crucial World Cup qualifier against Croatia with a 2-1 victory over Slovenia in Saturday’s friendly at Wembley.

Frank Lampard put England ahead with a first half penalty, awarded after a tumble by Wayne Rooney that should extend the current debate over diving, before Jermain Defoe came off the bench to maintain his impressive scoring streak.

Zlatan Ljubijankic got one back for Slovenia late on but this was the perfect preparation for Wednesday’s showdown against Croatia.

A win at Wembley would seal qualification for the World Cup with two games to spare and Fabio Capello’s team look in the right frame of mind to finish the job at the first time of asking.

“At the minute, everything I hit seems to be going in, I’m delighted,” said Defoe.

Asked if he would get a chance to start against Croatia, the Tottenham striker replied: “I don’t know. Everyone wants to play, no-one wants to sit on the bench but if I come on and make an impact, I’ll do that.

“At the end of the day, the manager picks the team. I’ll just keep working hard and see what happens.”

After a disjointed opening, England quickly took control against limited opposition and are now unbeaten in six matches, while Capello has won seven of his eight home games as England coach.

With David James still injured, West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green made his fourth consecutive appearance.

Shaun Wright-Phillips was preferred to David Beckham and Aaron Lennon on the right wing and Defoe had to settle for a place among the substitutes as Capello stuck with Emile Heskey as Rooney’s partner.

While seven successive wins in Group Six have taken England to the brink of qualification for next year’s finals in South Africa, there have still been worrying signs that Capello’s team are capable of self-destructing.

Careless mistakes gifted Holland two goals in last month’s friendly draw and the lesson clearly hadn’t been learned as Matthew Upson almost presented Slovenia with an early goal here.

The West Ham defender lobbed a wayward pass into midfield, Slovenia seized possession and striker Milivoje Novakovic rounded Green before shooting just over.

Heskey underlined his importance to England’s attack by winning a towering header that allowed Rooney to scamper clear and only a superb block Misco Brecko denied the Manchester United forward as he took aim from six yards.

From the resulting corner, John Terry met Steven Gerrard’s delivery with a thumping header that cannoned back off the crossbar.

With the Croatia clash just days away, Capello must have winced at the bone-jarring nature of Slovenia’s tackling. But England kept their cool and took the lead after 31 minutes.

As Gerrard crossed towards Rooney, the England star’s shirt was tugged by Bostjan Cesar. Rooney, who had also been grabbing Cesar’s shirt, demanded a penalty as he stumbled to the turf and Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson awarded the spot-kick.

Rooney was clearly touched, but he went down easily and Slovenia were quick to protest.

Coming so soon after the Eduardo cheat storm and Terry’s claims that England players are sometimes too honest for their own good, Rooney’s fall was certainly ill-timed.

Lampard added to Slovenia’s frustration by smashing the penalty past Samir Handanovic.

Capello’s side were well on top now and Rooney should have doubled England’s lead moments later. Instead he somehow hit the woodwork from point blank range after Lampard’s corner was flicked on by Upson.

Capello rang the changes at half-time, with Defoe, Michael Carrick, Lennon and James Milner on for Heskey, Lampard, Gerrard and Wright-Phillips.

Lennon and Defoe, the two in-form Tottenham stars, combined to seal England’s victory in the 63rd minute.

Defoe knocked a simple pass wide to Lennon and the winger returned the ball to his team-mate on the edge of the penalty area. Defoe sized up his options in an instant and curled a shot past Handanovic for his fifth goal in his last three England appearances.

Rooney was denied a goal when Matej Mavricrozic cleared off the line, before Slovenia reduced the deficit in the 85th minute when Ljubijankic got in front of substitute Joleon Lescott to head home.