Fly half Toby Flood says that the England squad are still feeling positive despite being whitewashed by the big three southern hemisphere teams this autumn.

Speaking to the BBC, Flood revealed that there had been some truth telling from the England squad and manager Martin Johnson in the changing room after the 32-6 defeat to New Zealand.

"Martin spoke clearly and concisely about what he wanted and where we are and he was very honest," he said. "We are taking some positives away from this series but there are obviously some negatives and things we need to work on. He spoke the truth; we know where we are and where we want to get to.

"He's a very knowledgeable man. He realises that shouting and getting angry with players doesn't really do anything. Talking concisely and clearly about the game, where we went wrong and how we can improve is what he needs to do and he does that very well. Any emotion is something that has a bad effect. He lets the emotion ride and we speak clearly."

Fly half Flood was one of four England players to be sent to the sin bin by referee Alain Rolland for a high tackle on All Blacks scrum-half Jimmy Cowan. While Flood said that Johnson did not show his anger after the game he admitted that playing nearly half the game with only 14 men was a massive handicap to the England team.

"Moving forward we'll have to learn from it," Flood said. "We have to realise that this kind of thing can't happen. If we make such poor decisions and the breakdown and lose so many penalties we're going to get punished.

"Any time you go into the sin bin it's difficult, especially when you give away a penalty in a decent position. Of course it was frustrating, especially in the position I play in. It was the same when Lee Mears went off. It's crucial. We had a lineout when Mears went off and didn't know who was going to throw it in! It's very difficult but it's part and parcel of the game."

But Flood insisted that England's future is still promising and that the Six Nations will prove to be another stepping stone.

"We realise that we're a long way from where we want to be," he admitted. "The team has a huge amount of ambition and potential. But they're just words and we have to put the work in when we're away from one another and when we meet up before the Six Nations. It's going to be crucial for us to kick on and put into effect the plan and patterns that we want to play."