England fail to shine without star Rooney

London Even if England concluded their qualifying campaign with yet another victory, a few players will be living in fear of Fabio Capello's laser treatment.

Some might even be vaporised, so disappointing were they on what could prove their final audition before the World Cup.

Shaun Wright-Phillips was certainly in danger until he scored England's second goal, but even then he must hope that the Italian still considers him an option on the right after struggling as much as he did on the left.

Wayne Bridge cannot even use the excuse of being played out of position.

As Capello discovered on Wednesday night, nothing works as smoothly in the absence of England's two best players. Take out Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard and, surprise, surprise, England are nowhere near the team they were in those two crushing defeats of Croatia. But that does not account for long periods of this encounter when England looked alarmingly inept.

Aaron Lennon was disappointing on the right, losing his place to David Beckham on 59 minutes.

There were reasons for optimism, not least in the form of Gabriel Agbonlahor. One name on the teamsheet suggested it was Belarus who could boast the quickest player on the pitch, Igor Shitov. But Agbonlahor was rapid in the England attack, producing the one run that set England on course for a ninth victory in 10 qualifiers with Peter Crouch's fourth-minute goal to which he added a second with 14 minutes remaining.

If this did amount to an experiment and an attempt to find a Plan B or C in addition to Plan A, Capello will probably be reasonably satisfied. The system, at least, is something they understand. But it needs England's wingers to be more effective and it also needs the drive and creativity that Rooney and Gerrard offer down the middle.

— Daily Mail