Spain coach Luis Aragones looked on the bright side after seeing his side held to a goalless draw by Russia.

A dour clash extended Aragones' record to 20 games unbeaten since he took charge of Spain, but he still came in for severe criticism in the Spanish press.

However, Aragones said: "They played with nine players back in the second half and were very good defensively.'

"Spain was the better team. I liked the attitude, some areas of play, and we did some good things. We only made a couple of tactical mistakes, particularly in the first half."

Meanwhile, Aragones has put Joan Capdevila and on standby as a precaution, with Asier Del Horno suffering with an ankle problem.

However, the Chelsea defender said after the stalemate against Russia: "I feel a bit better.

"We are going to have a look at the injury again, then the doctors and the coach will make a decision. I'm confident they'll see I'm on the road to recovery and so will leave me in the squad."