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Everton duo through with England

Baines and Jagielka still awaiting their chance

England advanced to the Euro2012 quarter-finals after beating co-hosts Ukraine in the hostile environs of Donetsk this evening to win Group D and earn a place in the first knock-out round.

Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka, both of whom are awaiting their first taste of Euro2012 action, did not play any part.

Ex-Everton forward Wayne Rooney returned, of course, after missing the first two Group D games through suspension, and thanks to his winner, set up buy Gerrard, Roy Hodgson's unfancied side are unbeaten Group winners, having drawn with France and beaten Sweden. That means they avoid Spain and will play Italy in the quarter-finals at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev on Sunday.

Despite his poor showing in South Africa two years ago, most pundits agree that if England are to have a chance of going on to win Euro 2012, Rooney will need to recapture his club form for the national side. And they will certainly need to play better than they have done in the group games.

Rooney replaced Andy Carroll against Ukraine and did the business as required, scoring the winning goal after missing a chance he should also have taken. Neither Baines nor Jagielka were able to dislodge Ashley Cole and John Terry, so they will look longingly to the knock-out stages to get their chance for the Three Lions.

While Joleon Lescott had an iffy game in central defence, Terry made one sterling contribution, clearing a ball from the England goalmouth that TV replays showed almost certainly crossed the line.  

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