Lampard backing for Green as Dempsey can't believe his luck

Fabio Capello's side had to settle for a 1-1 draw after Steven Gerrard's early goal was cancelled out by Clint Dempsey thanks to a glaring error by goalkeeper Green.

But Lampard has faith in the West Ham stopper to recover from his blunder five minutes before the interval.

The Chelsea midfielder said: "It was unfortunate. These balls are moving about. I don't know how much the ball moved.

"We were disappointed for Greeny because we are a team and we win, lose and draw as a team. It is unfortunate for keepers, They are the last line and, when they make a bit of a boob, it gets picked out.

"But no-one will be pointing the finger. He made a good save in the second half as well (from Jozy Altidore).

"I think he has got the character to bounce back. You are playing in the World Cup so you have to have character because it doesn't always go your way.

"Greeny will have that. I hope so. He is a very good professional. He will work hard and keep going."

Lampard admits England have to improve on their performance against the Americans and win their next two games to ensure qualification for the last 16.

Now they need to overcome Algeria and Slovenia to give themselves a realistic chance of topping Group C.

The 31-year-old said: "Maybe the point will be important but we have to go and win the next two games now.

"All the teams I have seen so far in the World Cup will look to improve and we are the same as everybody else in that way.

"It was frustrating not to get the win. It wasn't a bad performance but we will want to – and we will need to improve.

"We possibly should have won the game. It was disappointing. We created enough chances. We were pretty comfortable until they equalised.

"In the second half we had a couple of chances so it was a bit frustrating not to get a win which would have put us in the driving seat in the group.

"Steven scored early and after that we felt in control of the game. They never really threatened too much in our box.

"It was a bit of a freak goal for them and that gave them a lift going into half-time."

Dempsey admitted he could not believe his good fortune as he saw the ball bounce in off the hapless Green.

The Fulham striker said: "When I hit the shot I knew it was going on target and at the last second it moved a little bit. I saw Green reaching for it but then I saw it go over the line. I was hoping the referee saw it too. Thankfully he did.

"It is one of those goals everyone else seems to get. You watch them and think 'Why can I never get a goal like that'. Now I have.

"In the second half we didn't do a good job keeping possession. They had some good opportunities and Tim Howard came up with some big saves.

"But we had two excellent chances as well so we were well worth the point."

England's list of blunderers

Paul Robinson

(Croatia 2 England 0, Euro 2008 qualifier, October, 2006)

A crucial fixture in Croatia and Robinson allows Gary Neville's backpass to roll over his foot and gives the home side a 2-0 lead. Replays showed the ball hit a divot.

David Seaman

(Brazil 2 England 1, World Cup, June, 2002)

The Arsenal goalkeeper allowed a long-range free-kick from Ronaldinho to beat him for a goal which ended England's hopes of winning the World Cup in Japan.

David James

(Austria 2 England 2, World Cup qualifier, September, 2004)

James, then at Manchester City, allowed a long-range shot by Andreas Ivanschitz to squirm underneath his body for the equaliser as England threw away a two-goal lead.

Scott Carson

(England 2 Croatia 3, Euro qualifier, November, 2007)

Scott Carson allows Croatia midfielder Niko Kranjcar's early shot to squirm into the net as Steve McClaren's side threw away their Euro 2008 qualification chances.