Sven-Goran Eriksson admits he feared England might not qualify for next year's World Cup finals following their heavy defeat to Denmark.
England lost 4-1 in the friendly in Copenhagen in August and the manager admits he was worried the team might not make the trip to Germany if they did not improve.
Eriksson told Sky Sports News: "We had too many players out of form and I stuck with them anyhow - right or wrong I don't know. We were worried as well that going on playing like this we would not qualify for the World Cup."
However, Eriksson felt some valuable lessons were learned during the difficult days of the campaign, which included defeat by Northern Ireland.
"We learned that if we don't stick together, if we don't show up as a unit, a team, we are not that good," added Eriksson.
England eventually topped their group.