Roy Hodgson wary of reading too much into a job half done as England prepare for crunch World Cup match against Poland However, let us not run ahead of ourselves. Hodgson might have been on the front foot at Wembley on Friday night, but there were also the usual words of caution and - as sometimes curiously happens with this manager - a temptation of fate. It was Hodgson, not his questioners, who summoned up the spectre of 1973 as he warned against the task ahead when facing Poland, a side which will not be lacking in motivation, with the job of their coach, Waldemar Fornalik, on the line, and who boast Robert Lewandowski, one of Europe's most accomplished strikers, in their ranks. "I think they'll want to come here and win the game, get another good result, just like they did in "73, so we're going to be prepared for the very best Poland they can be," Hodgson said. If we're lucky and they decided not to turn up and allow us to stroll through them, then so be it. But I'm not expecting it. Given there will be at least 18,000 Polish fans inside Wembley, even the notion that their team has nothing to play for appears fanciful. Poland may have lost their last six away matches against England but it is that the 1-1 draw gained 40 years ago, which meant England missed out on the World Cup in West Germany, that resonates. England needed to win, Poland goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski was labelled a "clown" by Brian Clough and the rest is history. Hodgson was playing in South Africa at the time and did not see the match - he did not possess a television - but he did manage to watch the first half of Poland's game against Ukraine on Friday before England kicked off. So in control were the Poles in Kharkiv that when he was informed by the England bench that there had been a goal he wrongly assumed it was them, not Ukraine, who had become England's only rivals for first place in the group. "Poland were strong, very well organised and in [Robert] Lewandowski and [Jakub] Bladzokowski they've got two top-class European players," Hodgson said. I can't imagine they will take their foot off the pedal. Hodgson was clear that there would be no celebrations after beating Montenegro. I must say this. I'm delighted we won, I'm delighted to go to the next game with the same scenario, but it is job half done," he said. I can assure you I know that and I can assure you the players know it too. There will be no whooping about with them because they know they've got three very important days of preparation before them. Hodgson said that he felt his own criticism of Savicevic was a "cheap shot," and it was in the sense that Montenegro are a tiny nation, with a population roughly the same size as Bristol, and who were missing up to five first-team regulars - including captain and talisman Mirko Vucinic. However, the performance was impressive and Hodgson's response excusable. It was born not just of relief - as was his sweary reaction, caught on camera, to Andros Townsend's superb goal - but a reaction against the accusations of negativity and "Dark Ages" football, the phrase used by Gary Lineker. Hodgson's argument is similar to his predecessors and has substance: with players fit, he now has the resources. "You can't pick people who aren't there to pick," he said. At least now towards the end of qualifying we've got a much stronger squad of players. As always with England - lions in winter, lambs in the spring to recall Michel Platini's verdict - how long will that last? The squad were given yesterday off, with Hodgson reasoning: "I sometimes complain about the lack of coaching time. We get together on the Monday, the game's on the Friday and you can't do much on the Thursday before the game. It's still a long, long time to be together and if you then go back and you incarcerate yourself again for another couple of days - I think that would have a negative effect. I prefer them to open the window and smell the roses. For a man who often eschews statistics, Hodgson offered one up. "It's a big day for me," he said of Tuesday's match, "because if we avoid defeat it will be 40 matches in qualifiers with four defeats and that's not too bad when you think that some of those have been with Switzerland and Finland." Tuesday, however, is not about avoiding defeat. It is about winning. Hodgson was on the front foot - and needs to stay there. All smiles now...but what happens when England fail to qualify for World Cups? 1973: Jan Domarksi's goal and an inspired performance from goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski, branded "a clown" by pundit Brian Clough, meant England failed to get the win they needed to reach the finals. What happened next: Sir Alf Ramsey, the hero of 1966, was sacked. Of the starting XI at Wembley, only Martin Chivers failed to play again for England. Fallout rating: 7/10 1977: England's hopes were seriously dented early in qualifying when they were beaten 2-0 by Italy and failed to thrash unfancied Finland at home. England missed out on qualification on goal difference. What happened next: Caretaker manager Ron Greenwood stayed on and there was no clear-out of a largely young squad. Fallout rating: 3/10 1993: A 2-0 defeat by Holland - the nadir for manager Graham Taylor, whose every move was recorded by Channel 4 - effectively ruled out hopes of qualifying for USA "94. What happened next: Taylor was sacked and a host of players - including Andy Sinton, Lee Sharpe, Carlton Palmer, Tony Dorigo and Des Walker - never played for their country again. Fallout rating: 9/10