Jordan Henderson was pleased to see England secure victory without Harry Kane in Amsterdam but admits the Tottenham man will walk straight back into the team when fit.
Jesse Lingard's first international goal handed England a 1-0 win over Netherlands on Friday night, their first friendly success under Gareth Southgate and game seven in a promising unbeaten run.
The visitors were not unduly hindered by Kane's absence with an ankle injury, the lively Marcus Rashford deputising in the centre-forward position and Raheem Sterling impressing in an advanced support role, but there is no doubting who will carry the nation's goalscoring hopes at the World Cup.
Despite that, captain for the day Henderson was happy to see others step out the shadow of the Spurs star against Ronald Koeman's men.
"Don't get me wrong, Harry is a huge player for us and a big miss but I thought Marcus and Raheem did really well as a pair," said the midfielder. "I thought they were brilliant and with Welbs and Vards [Danny Welbeck and Jamie Vardy] coming on there's still a lot of talent in that area.
"But hopefully Harry can get back quickly and come straight back into the team."
Henderson also praised Kyle Walker for an accomplished outing in an unfamiliar role. With uncapped centre-backs Alfie Mawson and James Tarkowski on the bench, Southgate sprung a surprise by fielding Kieran Trippier at right-back and asking Walker to play on the right of a back three.
The Manchester City defender looked entirely at ease in his new surroundings, contributing well to England's fifth consecutive clean sheet.
"Kyle is a good, good player and good players can play anywhere," said Henderson. "He was brilliant. It's a bit different for him in that position but he's good on the ball, intelligent and had a really solid game. I thought he suited the role well."
Further back, Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford did his own to cause no harm. The 24-year-old started ahead of Joe Hart, Jack Butland and Nick Pope and followed up on the good impression he made against Germany on debut in November.
Butland is in line to get the nod against Italy on Tuesday and Pickford accepts the battle for the gloves is still far from over.
"There's a lot of competition and there's still eight Premier League games left so there's a lot of times to go," he said. "All four goalkeepers -- and Heats [Tom Heaton] too -- are in the hat.
"Only one can have the shirt but as long as we're all playing well that's what's best for England. We're all performing well, even in training we're pushing each other. We're all good lads and get on, we want what's best for the team and for ourselves. It's the goalkeeper's union."