Midfielder Joe Cole fired England to a laboured 1-0 victory over Wales in their Group Six World Cup qualifier on Saturday.

Cole struck home a deflected shot after 54 minutes of a scrappy encounter at the Millennium Stadium, latching on to a pass from his Chelsea team mate Shaun Wright-Phillips.

England toiled in an unfamiliar 4-5-1 formation with Wayne Rooney as a lone striker in the absence of suspended Michael Owen, but at least managed to turn the page on a humiliating 4-1 friendly defeat in Denmark less than three weeks ago.

Victory also hoisted England to the top of the group with 19 points, one more than Poland, who were playing a qualifier at home to Austria in Chorzow later on Saturday.

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