England v Republic of Ireland: winners and losers on the road to the 2014 World Cup In his favour, there are not many rivals for this position. Danny Welbeck, in truth, represents the main threat. Wayne Rooney When you have endured the sort of month Rooney has, this game would have felt like a port in a storm. He started that way too, looking sharp and hungry, especially when taking Frank Lampard's long pass on the volley to try and chip the keeper. After that it was mainly a case of trying to link the play with his clever touch and vision. Though a discernible understanding with Sturridge didn't have time to grow, you would hope to see more of the pair in tandem in the World Cup qualifiers next term. But with Sturridge withdrawn, England's number 10 continued to impress in the second half. Given his lack of match practice for Manchester United, the legs would have grown weary as the match wore on. But the simple fact is England doesn't have another player with Rooney's gifts. Going into next season, he will continue to be a vital player. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain This has not turned into the season the teenager would have hoped for, his progress very limited in an Arsenal shirt. That is partly down to some haphazard decision-making that almost looks like a loss of concentration at times. There was an element of that here as Oxlade-Chamberlain tried to come to terms with his role as a left-sided midfielder given licence to drift inside and get involved. Not easy, that. Not a winger, nor a central midfielder, the lad must get to grips with the nuances involved If he can, that job could serve him well, not to mention England seeing as it gives the team an extra body in the middle of the park. And after one or two early passes went astray, the youngster settled down to have a decent game. There is no doubt the 19-year-old has potential. All being well, that should be realised in the next year or so. Gary Cahill Roy Hodgson admits that his central defence is probably the only area of uncertainty. In other words, the England manager has yet to settle on his favoured pair, what with Chris Smalling, Joleon Lescott and Phil Jones competing with those who started on Wednesday night. And coming off the back of a successful season at Chelsea, Cahill should have felt confident next to Phil Jagielka. Both are good talkers and both like attacking the ball, something that sometimes got Cahill in trouble marking Shane Long. The Ireland striker beat his man for pace on a sprint down the line before Cahill recovered to get in his tackle. The defender is good at that. But this will not go down as his most comfortable England game. Phil Jagielka Very similar to Cahill in many ways, the Everton man was asked to play on the left side as opposed to his favoured right where he looks so strong at club level. Not ideal. You feel a little strange on the "wrong side." Maybe it showed once or twice, too, as Long went about testing his markers. That involved winning a free kick when Jagielka was too keen to win a long ball played into the frontman. It goes without saying that can be dangerous at this level. Over-exuberance will be punished by crafty strikers. By the end of the night you couldn't escape the impression that Hodgson still will not feel he has found the right combination.