When a World Cup encounter bears a closer resemblance to 22 office workers hiring the local leisure centre Astroturf, the value to the England manager is always likely to be limited.
But Gareth Southgate will have to accept yet more criticism after failing to deliver on the promise of a rise in standards and something that would make standing in the pouring rain seem vaguely worthwhile to the 1800 unfortunate English souls who paid good money to be here in Vilnius.
That England’s fans still applauded their team at the end was perhaps the most remarkable moment of the night. It amounted to an extraordinary act of generosity when they had spent much of the previous 90 minutes mocking them.
Harry Kane gave England the lead with a 27th minute penalty following a foul on Dele Alli in rain-soaked Vilnius on Sunday
Kane slotted in the penalty off the left hand post to settle nerves for England on their trip to face minnows Lithuania
Alli was chopped down by Ovidijus Verbickas as he pursued a bouncing ball, giving Kane the chance to add to his goal tally
Captain Kane leads his players in applauding the 1,800 England fans who travelled to watch an appalling game in bad weather
England play Germany and Brazil in Wembley friendlies next month in games which should be of more use to Southgate
‘It’s just like watching Brazil,’ they declared midway through the second half, when the truth is they looked more like Brazil in the green and yellow ponchos that were given to them in the absence of a covered stand.
On the eve of this contest Southgate challenged his players to aspire to the level set by individuals of the quality of ‘Pique, Ramos, Neuer and Kroos’. All they did, however, was prove their manager right. The majority of them are not even close to being in that class.
There are exceptions, of course, and Southgate will want to reflect on the few positives there were even if he did accept that his side were once again unable to ‘break down a packed defence’ as effectively as he would like. Indeed he was honest enough to admit that it has been a recurring theme of this qualifying campaign.
Southgate can at least now be confident that the England captaincy does not faze Harry Kane any more than international football fazes his young Tottenham namesake.
For Harry Winks this was a most competent international debut, the 21-year-old performing with a level of confidence and composure that more than disguised his lack of top flight experience.
It no doubt helped that this would have felt far less daunting than any of the four Premier League appearances he has so far made, but a competitive England game this remained and Winks gave a decent account of himself in his all-black boots.
There were some neat little touches that perhaps explained why Mauricio Pochettino calls him ‘Little Iniesta’ and something that has become increasingly rare among England’s midfielders – the occasional forward pass.
The forward wearing the captain’s armband had a similarly satisfactory evening, capitalising on a foul on Dele Alli to score what was an excellent 27th minute penalty. That it grazed the inside of the left-hand post was a measure of Kane’s own confidence.
Harry Winks was given a senior England start, despite having made only four starts previously for club Tottenham Hotspur
Harry Maguire also made his competitive international debut, and almost scored within five minutes but missed his header
The game was used as a chance for fringe players such as Kieran Trippier to impress, with England having qualified already
Kane takes a shot from the edge of the area in the first half; England lined up in an unusual 3-4-3 formation at the LFF Stadium
Michael Keane almost gave England the lead on 25 minutes with a well struck volley from the edge of the area but missed
It amounted not just to Kane’s seventh goal in six England games, and his 12th in 23 in all for his country, but his fourth in his four appearances in the armband and his fourth consecutive strike in as many away games.
The last striker to do that was a certain Alan Shearer and Southgate should take encouragement from the fact that Kane carries the burden of responsibility so easily when he needs to identify a leader before next summer’s World Cup.
Identifying a team remains the more difficult task for the England boss and despite the tactical experiments, in particular the switch to a three-man defence, this would not have told him a great deal beyond allowing him to also see Harry Maguire for the first time.
Marcus Rashford remains one of the few players who performs without fear, the young Manchester United forward adding a Cruyff turn to his repertoire last night.
While Jack Butland proved himself a more than worthy understudy to Joe Hart. The Stoke goalkeeper had a relatively quiet night and he needs to improve his distribution but delivered when required, not least when sparing Michael Keane the ignominy of scoring what would have been a spectacular own goal.
Alli is unable to guide the ball home after a deep cross caused problems for home goalkeeper Ernestas Setkus
Marcus Rashford started on the right of England’s front three, here using his pace to test Vytautas Andriuskevicius
Rashford gets treatment from the England medical staff after taking a tumble on the artificial turf at the Vilnius stadium
Kane and Alli try to push their way to the ball as England dominated the first half possession, without too much success
Jordan Henderson, one of the few England players to keep their spot from Thursday’s win over Slovenia, controls the ball
Winks came close to a debut goal, his shot early in the second half was well palmed away as England sought a second
For the most part, though, a contest with nothing riding on it, on an artificial pitch, would have been another source of frustration for Southgate.
Southgate might have spoken of the desire to see players fighting for a place on the plane to Russia, just as he might have expressed a wish to win back England’s disaffected fans.
But it is just as well England will play Brazil next month, Germany too, because those friendlies should provide Southgate with a better opportunity to examine his players and begin formulating some kind of plan for the next year’s finals.
It needs to represent more of a test that this; a game played at a venue that was a stadium in the loosest sense of the word; a main building, two sides of temporary, uncovered seating with a further pitch behind one of the goals completing the four sides.
It should not be used as an excuse for another flat, rather uninspiring performance and a few seats along in the press box Danny Mills cut an increasingly exasperated figure. He clearly could not believe footballers hoping to play in a World Cup were performing with so little urgency.
As the game staggered towards its conclusion, England actually became dangerously complacent. As alert as Winks might have been in midfield, some appeared to be enjoying 40 winks at the back.
Deivydas Matulevicius really should have punished them when he suddenly found himself with only Butland to beat, but the Lithuania substitute directed his effort straight at the England keeper and that Kane spot-kick remained enough for a distinctly uninspiring victory.
Gareth Southgate has guided England to the World Cup but has admitted that England are behind the tournament favourites
The rain poured down in the Baltic nation, with the away fans given yellow and green ponchos, the colour of Lithuania’s team
Kane captained his country again; he led the team out, followed by goalkeeper Jack Butland, who was given a chance to shine
Butland warms up pre-match – the Stoke City keeper was chosen to start ahead of Joe Hart, Jordan Pickford and Fraser Forster
The 5,000-seater LFF stadium – it was also where England ended their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, also with a victory