Having endured a busy second half during his side's 2-1 victory over Russia, Slovakia captain Martin Skrtel was happy to end up on the winning team on Wednesday, especially after their initial defeat to Wales in their opening Euro 2016 encounter.

Both goals came during a positive first half from Jan Kozak's side, and Denis Glushakov's strike was the only reward the Bears managed during a second period that they came to dominate.

"We are tired but happy," admitted the Liverpool defender after the encounter. "We went into the game knowing we wanted to win. After the match with Wales we were disappointed because we felt we deserved more.

"Slovakia came from behind in Saturday's game with the Dragons, only to allow a late Hal Robson-Kanu goal to deny them a point.

"Today we got to make up for that game," he added. "In the second half we came under pressure, but we had the luck and it went with us."

The Falcon's goals, from Vladimir Weiss and particularly Marek Hamsik, were amongst the competitions best so far and Skrtel was keen to praise both players.

"We played beautifully and we won," he continued. "The end justified the means. The two goals we got were absolute masterstrokes by their scorers.

"They were beautiful moments and the team showed heart and character to drag themselves to a successful conclusion.

"Victory in that second group game means that Slovakia have given themselves every opportunity to qualify for the Round of 16 at their first ever European Championship.

They face England on Monday knowing that while a victory would certainly see them qualify, a draw might be enough to ensure one of the third placed spots that would allow their participation to continue.