Platt is undone by the hand of Helder

Helder Postiga wrecked England Under-21s' chances of qualifying for the European Championship finals with a blatant Maradona-style piece of cheating at Goodison Park.

Postiga has failed to hit the target for Tottenham in the Premiership and recalled the Argentinian's effort against England in 1986 when he clearly used his hand to steer home a 78th-minute Hugo Viana free-kick to give Portugal a 2-1 win.

Only Greek referee Athanassios Briakos and his assistant failed to see Postiga using a hand.

Manager David Platt's contract prevented him from speaking out against Briakos, other than to say: " Unfortunately, none of the match officials seemed to see what everybody else saw."

It was left to Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi to sum up the feelings of the England camp. He said: "I don't think the referee made things any easier for us. I think the way he handled the game was very poor. Some of the decisions we could not believe and to get one like that at the end was scandalous."

It was a cruel kick in the teeth for Platt, but after witnessing what he described as "the best performance of the campaign", he believes he has a platform on which to build.

Whether he is still around to do so remains to be seen, but he has no intention of throwing in the towel. He said: "There's absolutely no doubt I won't jack it in. If they continue to perform like that, then there's hope for the future and it gives me a lot of encouragement.

"Looking at the team, there are players who will be involved in the next competition such as Lee Grant, Glen Johnson and Michael Dawson, while there are other players coming through that will also play."