Joe Cole scrambled a stoppage-time equaliser at Wembley last night after Capello's men fell behind twice between Wes Brown's first international goal.

Milan Baros and Marek Jankulovski netted for the visitors, who looked good value for the victory until Cole struck.

The England boss said: "I think last night we took another step, I'm happy, but I saw things I have doubts about.

"However, I think we are ready for the next game."

England face Andorra and Croatia next month and an improvement will be expected if they are to get a result in Zagreb against their main rivals on the road to South Africa.

Capello admits his side are struggling against counter-attacking teams.

He said: "I'm happy with the draw because the reaction of the team right until the last minute was important and good.

"I think also in the first half we played good football with style. We created a lot of chances and the team played together better with different style.

"Only one thing I didn't like in the first half –- sometimes when the Czechs countered we suffered. This is a problem and we have to do something about it.

"In the second half we lost the style and position and the Czechs are a very good team.

"I asked to play against them for this reason – to see where the problems are. They are not easy to beat.

"When a team plays the counter attack it is not easy to score."

Capello had told his players that it was time to deliver and that the experimenting was over after last season's matches and with that in mind it is clear that Wayne Rooney is preferred as a foil to an out-and-out striker.

Jermain Defoe in the first half, then Emile Heskey in the second, partnered the Manchester United forward in a fluid formation that allowed Rooney to drop deep but this also played into the hands of the visitors.

They kept the ball better and frustrated Capello's forward line when defending.

The warning signs were there as early as the quarter-hour mark when Jan Polak slid the ball through to Baros, whose fierce drive required a sharp save from David James.

The opener came in the 22nd minute, with the build-up starting on the left flank. Radek Sirl checked his run to trick Brown then passed square to Baros, whose finish cannoned in off Ashley Cole to wrongfoot James.

Falling a goal behind sparked England's midfield into their first period of sustained pressure on Petr Cech's goal.

The Chelsea goalkeeper was forced to save from Defoe three times, although two efforts were too close to him.

Cech also denied Rooney when the forward shot straight at him from a promising position.

If England were running out of ideas when going forward, it took the reliable right boot of David Beckham to help to restore parity.

Beckham's corner from the right flank was swung towards goal and Brown headed in at the near post seconds before the half-time break.

It took the visitors three minutes after the restart to take the lead again.

Gareth Barry launched himself into another reckless challenge and Jankulovski's free-kick curled into the top corner, with James again wrongfooted as he stood rooted to the spot.

It could have got worse for England, with Beckham expecting an offside that never happened and Vaclav Sverkos rounding James but putting his finish into the side-netting.

Stewart Downing came off the bench and fired an effort wide as England were reduced to long-range efforts when long balls to Heskey did not work.

Defeat looked likely until the 90th minute when Cole, introduced as a second-half substitute, bundled the ball in, despite the efforts of Jan Rajnoch on the line.

ENGLAND: James, Brown, Ferdinand, Terry, Ashley Cole, Beckham, Barry, Lampard, Gerrard, Defoe, Rooney. Subs: Robinson, Hart, Johnson, Bridge, Woodgate, Upson, Bentley, Downing, Jenas, Joe Cole, Heskey, Walcott.

CZECH REPUBLIC: Cech, Grygera, Ujfalusi, Rozehnal, Jankulovski, Vlcek, Kovac, Polak, Plasil, Sirl, Baros. Subs: Zitka, Kadlec, Pospech, Jarolim, Rajnoch, Papadopulos, Sverkos.

REFEREE: Terje Hauge (Norway)

ATTENDANCE: 69,738.