Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has hit back at critics of his striker-less system.

Del Bosque fielded Cesc Fabregas in an attacking role in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Italy, but effectively played with six midfielders as big names Fernando Torres and Fernando Llorente started on the bench.

Fabregas scored, but the debate over Del Bosque's tactics has rumbled on to the clear irritation of the 61-year-old.

He said: "We trust all of our three strikers. All of them can play and we know all of them will do everything for the team.

"We have used Llorente - he helped us to become champions and he is a different player.

"We played in Brussels with one forward and we put another forward on instead of Fabregas. Sometimes, it's a question of football.

"We are really confident about our strikers - that's why we brought them here.

"But we have played just one match and we could use all of them. You can only make three substitutions, so everybody can't play.

"If we could have played with 13 players, it would have been different."