Full-time: England 3 Slovenia 1

THE build-up was all about Wayne Rooney winning his 100th cap, but in the end, it was England’s other centre-forward who underlined his growing importance to the national team.

Rooney might have claimed his 44th international goal to move alongside Jimmy Greaves in third position on the all-time scoring charts, and close to within five of Sir Bobby Charlton’s record, but it was Danny Welbeck’s second-half double that did most to break a resilient Slovenian side and ensure England will end 2014 with a six-point cushion at the head of Group E. If they can’t make it to Euro 2016 in France from here, things really are much worse than we thought.

Welbeck’s second brace of the qualifying campaign comprised a scruffy hooked finish after Adam Lallana’s initial shot had been saved and a slick side-footed strike following a crisp one-two with Raheem Sterling, and made it five goals in the 23-year-old’s last four competitive matches for his country.

That is comfortably the best run of his international career, and after a spell when he was vying with the injured Daniel Sturridge for the right to lead the England attack, Welbeck now finds himself firmly established as the leader of the line.

The quality of his finishing remains a subject for debate, and against top-ranked opposition, when chances are likely to be at a premium, there has to be a concern that a lack of composure could undermine the improvements that are discernible within his game.

Nevertheless, this summer’s move to Arsenal has unquestionably reenergised him, and it was telling that when Roy Hodgson felt the need to switch formations after a dreadful first half in order to introduce a 4-3-3 system, it was Rooney rather than Welbeck who found himself shuffled towards the wing.  

“At the moment, Danny has established himself in the team,” said Hodgson, who will now turn his attentions to tomorrow’s friendly with Scotland. “I can’t give him carte blanche forever, and he might come up against teams (who contain him) or other players might emerge.

“I saw Danny Ings play very well for the under-21s the other day, so I'm hoping the competition is going to get stronger and stronger.

“But if you’re asking me, at this particular moment in time, am I satisfied with the progress Danny Welbeck has made and am I pleased at the resurgence of form he's had in the last two or three months, not least of all for us, then of course I am.”

Welbeck’s relationship with Rooney certainly appears to be developing, although from an England perspective, it is just as well that the pair have shared eight goals during the current qualifying campaign because the players behind them continue to suffer from a lack of attacking cohesion.

There has been much talk of Hodgson’s midfield diamond providing defensive solidity while freeing the likes of Sterling and Lallana to concentrate on attack, but it remains a huge concern that all four of the midfielders who started Saturday’s game are still to score their first international goal. And they now boast 67 caps between them.

The Liverpool trio of Sterling, Lallana and Jordan Henderson are all struggling to reproduce the club form they displayed last season, while the jury will have to remain out on Jack Wilshere’s effectiveness as a deep-lying midfielder until England come up against a side who are capable of passing through them.

Even against the limited opposition in their group, however, it is hard to argue that England’s balance is right, as evidenced by both their overall performance in the previous game in Estonia and their abject display in the first 45 minutes of Saturday’s game, where Samir Handanovic’s only action in the Slovenian goal was to divert an errant back-pass from Jasmin Kurtic.

Hodgson was always going to make changes for tomorrow’s game at Celtic Park, but there is now an added necessity to see if Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and a fit-again Theo Walcott can inject some pace and vitality into England’s play. Otherwise, we will be heading to Euro 2016 with an even less adventurous side than the one that failed in Brazil this summer.

“I think it’s too soon after just four or five games to say, ‘We're improving here, we’re improving there’,” said Hodgson. “But I certainly don't think we're going backwards.

“I think a lot of players are stepping up to the plate more and more, and I certainly believe we’re finding more and more who could challenge for a position in the team. If anything, the squad we lamented at one stage as so small because there was such a small number of English players, I don’t think I can say that honestly now because I think there’s enough players to choose from.

“I also think we’re showing signs of the pace and athleticism we feel we have in the squad. We’re seeing signs of getting benefits from that, not only in attacking phases of play but also defensive phases. I think we’re very quick to win the ball back and people are very quick to react.”    

The obvious riposte is that it is relatively easy to win the ball back against Slovenia, but rather harder to achieve the same feat against a side like Italy, who fatally undermined England’s World Cup campaign in Manaus.

That said, you can only beat what is put in front of you, and England continue to perform that task with a minimum of fuss, even if there were a few jitters when Henderson headed Andraz Kirm’s free-kick past Joe Hart in the 57th minute of Saturday’s victory. He might not play for Sunderland any more, but Henderson has clearly not lost his former club’s fondness for putting the ball into the wrong net.

England were level within two minutes of falling behind, with Rooney’s surging run into the penalty area drawing a foul from Bostjan Cesar. Rooney dispatched the penalty powerfully, ensuring that Handanovic, who had saved his six previous spot-kicks, was unable to keep the ball out despite getting his right hand to it.

Six minutes later and England were ahead, with Welbeck hooking home after Handanovic had saved Lallana’s deflected effort, and the game’s final goal was comfortably the best, with Welbeck slotting home after a slick interchange of passes with Sterling.

“As a squad, there’s a lot of talent in and around now,” said Welbeck. “There are a lot of players still to come in, and a lot of players in the younger age groups that are doing very well. You’ve just got to work hard every single day and then when you get your opportunity, try to take it.

“The most important thing is that the team is getting the victories at the moment, and I’m doing my job to try to put the ball in the back of the net.”