Results that count

By Graham Taylor Former England manager

Sven-Goran Eriksson deserves all the praise he has received for the victory on Saturday in Macedonia.

As a manager, you pick a team and a formation that you think is the correct one but sometimes you quickly realise that it is not the correct one.

Sven did the right thing by changing it at half-time, bringing on Emile Heskey and going to a 4-3-3 formation and it paid off.

England celebrate Wayne Rooney's goal

To have not played well, especially in the first half, and come away with a win is a great credit to everyone involved with the England set-up.

There are certain games you will not get credit from unless you win, and Saturday's game was one of those.

There is no point going to a place like Skopje, playing well and only getting a draw because there will be criticism.

You need quality, committed players and you also need some good fortune which we had on Saturday, especially with the penalty coming so soon after the Macedonian player came on, but that mix is there.

This was a tricky game but at the end of the day it is all about qualification. However, we will need to be more professional, first at Old Trafford on Wednesday and then against Turkey.

It is better to go to Istanbul knowing you don't have to lose the game, rather than going there knowing you have to win it.

It is going to be a difficult game for us but at least this win means a draw should be enough for us, but a lot will depend on Sven's selection and approach to the game.

Graham Taylor was speaking to BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme.

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