England recorded a sixth consecutive World Cup 2010 qualification success with a 4-0 victory in Kazakhstan even if the performance was less than impressive.
A difficult pitch did not help England who endured a nervy start which saw Kazakhstan almost take a shock lead after 19 seconds, then have striker Sergey Ostapenko's header ruled out for offside.
England scored twice before half-time through Gareth Barry and Emile Heskey after finally coming to terms with the difficult conditions.
There was a slight improvement in the second half as England found their range of passes and the home side began to run out of steam.
Wayne Rooney and a Frank Lampard penalty completed the formalities after the break as Fabio Capello's team all but ensured a visit to South Africa next summer.
Lampard told Setanta Sports 1: "It's been a good week for me, the Cup final was a big highlight.
But we had to focus on this game, it took us 20 minutes or half an hour to get going and in the end we won comfortably. We can do better, but it was a professional display.
We're on a confident run and we need to keep it going - we've not qualified until we're qualified."
Three Lions coach Capello said: "It wasn't easy to play here, the pitch wasn't fast like English pitches and it made passing very hard.
They started strong, pressed a lot, and for us it was difficult, but that's sometimes what happens when you play against a team who aren't at the same level. It's another big step forward to qualification."