England took the lead in Almaty through Gareth Barry and went two up just before-half-time when Emile Heskey scored from close range.

The hosts had seen a far-post header from Sergey Ostapenko ruled out for offside.

Wayne Rooney put some gloss on the result with an overhead kick after his first effort had been kept out.

Lampard, who completed the scoring from the penalty spot after Heskey had been fouled, said: "We had to get our heads down and work hard this week and focus on this game.

"It took us about 20 minutes or half an hour to get going but then we won comfortably," Lampard told Setanta Sports 1.

"I think it was professional, there were things we could have done better.

"We are a on a confident run and we need to keep it going. We've taken a big step again.

"Our main objective is to qualify, the sooner we do that the better."

England manager Fabio Capello admitted the home side's strong start had caught his team out.

He said: "They started very strong and they were pressing a lot. For us it was not easy to play the ball.

"Always when you play against a team that is not at the same level they start very strong," he added on Setanta Sports 1.

"We tried to play and move the ball quickly but on this pitch it was not easy to find our passes. They were always too long."

Capello looked forward to the next qualifier against Andorra at Wembley on Wednesday.

"It (a victory) would be another big step forward (to qualification). If we win we will have 21 points and it's a lot."