An accomplished Samir Nasri strike earned France a 1-1 draw with England in the first match of Group D on Monday after Joleon Lescott opened the scoring.

Karim Benzema and Patrice Evra spoke of their frustration at being unable to turn their possession into meaningful chances in the second half against a compact England back line.

But Lille defender Debuchy believes the result was a positive one given the balance of play early on.

"It's still a good draw and a good result," he told reporters.

"When you see the beginning of the game, it makes sense and we are content.

"It's awesome to play against England, it is not easy to get inside them, but we had to. The first 20 minutes we were struggling but as the game went on, we had more control of the ball."

France meet Ukraine in their second Group D match on Friday in Donetsk, with the co-hosts sitting top of the section following their 2-1 win over Sweden on Monday.

Debuchy believes his side will take encouragement from their opening display into what will be a tough encounter against Oleg Blokhin's side.

"This is the beginning," the 26-year-old said.

"You have to take it all in in a big competition, there are several factors. It will help us for the next games.

 "We have always said that Ukraine would be there in this group. It will not be straight forward, it'll be a tough game."