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Pointless Celebrities attracts more viewers than England's Euro qualifier against Slovenia

The British public appeared to be more interested in watching the likes of Vanessa Feltz and Carol McGiffin than Wayne Rooney's 100th match

Monday 17 November 2014 11:47 GMT

Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osmon host BBC's Pointless (BBC)

Despite a strong attendance of 82,000 fans at Wembley, more people tuned in to watch Pointless Celebrities than the England match on TV this Saturday.

An average audience of 4.56 million viewers watched England vs Slovenia on ITV, while 4.99 million people chose to watch the celebrity edition of BBC’s Pointless instead.

The British public appeared to be more interested in watching Vanessa Feltz, Penny Smith, Kriss Akabusi, Roger Black, Keith Chegwin, Andrew Castle, Louie Spence and Carol McGiffin than tuning in for Wayne Rooney’s 100th match for England.

Even the peak viewing figures reveal the nation’s apathy towards watching England on the pitch.

Pointless pulled in a high of 7.26 million viewers on Saturday evening, compared with a peak audience of 6.3 million who tuned in to watch England’s Euro qualifier.

The quiz show even managed a respectable gain towards the end of its broadcast at 6.50pm, attracting 6.2 million viewers as people geared up to watch Strictly Come Dancing’s Blackpool special.

England 3 Slovenia 1 - player ratings

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1/11England 3 Slovenia 1 - player ratings

England 3 Slovenia 1 - player ratings

Joe Hart

After being almost redundant for the last home game against San Marino and given another quiet night in Estonia, he would have expected a little more work but was barely tested again, except by Henderson’s unstoppable header. Acted as sweeper well whenever he was called into action to do so. 6/10

AP

England 3 Slovenia 1 - player ratings

Nathaniel Clyne

Happy to get forward as the full-backs need to when England play with a narrow diamond formation, the young Londoner had an acceptable debut with no obvious errors. Less attack-minded after half-time when Sterling went wider. 6

Getty Images

England 3 Slovenia 1 - player ratings

Phil Jagielka

Less solid than his central defensive partner, losing Novakovic to allow him to head a corner wide in one uncomfortable moment and slipping to let in Kampl for another. As one of the players in the side with England goals to his name, the Evertonian produced one good header for the team’s first effort on target. 5

Reuters

England 3 Slovenia 1 - player ratings

Gary Cahill

The Chelsea man is becoming England’s most dependable defender, further improved by his regular Champions League experience. Upset Novakovic with some of his headed challenges and got a kick for his pains. One lax pass led to Jagielka’s booking. 7

Getty Images

England 3 Slovenia 1 - player ratings

Kieran Gibbs

After a first start for four years against San Marino the Arsenal full-back was given another one unexpectedly soon as stand-in for Leighton Baines. He did fine defensively and had a hand in the third goal without offering Baines’s attacking brio. Booked for a stab at Birsa’s Achilles. 6

Getty Images

England 3 Slovenia 1 - player ratings

Jordan Henderson

Without a goal in 18 England appearances and would not have wanted to break his duck by scoring at the wrong end. Sitting on the right of the midfield diamond the Liverpool player has been an ever-present in the national side this season without influencing many games. 5

Getty Images

England 3 Slovenia 1 - player ratings

Jack Wilshere

Unenviably stationed in the centre circle, the worst area of the pitch, for his 25th cap. Got mud on his shirt early on in giving and taking some hefty challenges before playing some neat forward passes. But then he had a quiet second half. 7

Getty Images

England 3 Slovenia 1 - player ratings

Adam Lallana

Not a natural winger, we know, and almost too eager to drift inside. He delivered ome poor free-kicks and corners which failed to clear the first defender until he put one on Rooney’s head in the second half and the Liverpool man did then help to force Welbeck’s first goal with his own shot. 5

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England 3 Slovenia 1 - player ratings

Raheem Sterling

Not too tired to play this time, although as he discovered against the defensive San Marino he found the middle congested and took until the second half to move wide much more often, when he looked more dangerous. Set up Welbeck nicely for the third goal. Booked. 6

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England 3 Slovenia 1 - player ratings

Danny Welbeck

Put in a poor performance in Estonia last month and having a mixed season for Arsenal, which was reflected here early on. Brought Rooney or Clyne into the game well enough and he worked hard to be rewarded with his two goals later on. 7

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England 3 Slovenia 1 - player ratings

Wayne Rooney

Having received his golden 100th cap from Sir Bobby Charlton, the captain won the penalty cleverly by wriggling through defenders and then converted it with a thump for his fourth goal in the last five England games. Played almost up alongside Welbeck throughout the match and linked well with him in setting up chances for each other. 8

Getty Images

Meanwhile, the number of viewers watching England dropped from around 6.1 million to 3.9 million at roughly the same time.

England won the match 3-1 against Slovenia and will next play Scotland in a friendly on Tuesday.

The match could suffer from another ratings embarrassment after being pitted against EastEnders and MasterChef: the professionals in the TV schedule.

Read more: England vs Slovenia match report

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