Rio de Janeoro: England striker Daniel Sturridge believes that his side should draw encouragement from their opening World Cup defeat by Italy as they begin preparations for Thursday's pivotal clash with Uruguay.


37th min: England forward Daniel Sturridge (in white) scores the equaliser against Italy at the Amazonia Arena in Manaus on Saturday. Pic/AFP 

"It's important we continue playing the way we did against Italy," said the Liverpool striker, who netted an equaliser for England in Saturday's Group D game in Manaus, only for Mario Balotelli to give Italy a 2-1 win. "I thought we played very well. It was just unfortunate.