England captain Rio Ferdinand has admitted that England fans were justified in booing the Three Lions off after tonight's 2-1 defeat to France at Wembley.

An experimental team including debutants Andy Carroll and Jordan Henderson were second best at Wembley virtually from start to finish and the sell-out crowd voiced their displeasure both at half-time and full-time.

"We didn't really put on a good show for the fans today; they voiced their opinions and you have to deal with that," said England captain Ferdinand, who was substituted at half-time.

The crowd did, however, give a warm reception to Newcastle striker Carroll, whose performance was one of few bright points.

"When young lads come into the team, it's great that the fans get behind them and they did," said Ferdinand. The captain accepted England have a lot of work to do to integrate the next generation of internationals into the team. "Much to improve, I think," he said.

We didn't really put on a good show for the fans today; they voiced their opinions and you have to deal with that.
Rio Ferdinand, England captain

"We have to realise that we had quite an inexperienced team out there: two debutants, one player with one of his first two or three caps thrown in there. They're really the only positives I really take out of the game. Andy Carroll - with what service he did get - I thought he did well.

"Henderson, it was a great experience for him to be out there and playing in front of 90,000 at Wembley and Kieran Gibbs I thought had a good game.

"We've got some young players that are in and around the squad and on the fringes. It's down to the manager how he integrates them into the team and hopefully we can get rid of all the injuries we've had over the last couple of months, get them fit and integrate the young lads with some experience in that side," said the Manchester United defender.

Injuries to key players such as Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Joe Hart forced manager Fabio Capello's hand tonight to a certain extent. Despite the performance and result that ensued, Ferdinand insisted the game was a worthwhile exercise. "Definitely from this training period we've had together, although it didn't really work out for us in the game. What you've seen in training with a few of the young lads hopefully bodes well for the future," he said.