England 1-0 Austria World Cup photos The action as it happened

David Beckham was left in an angry mood after he was sent off for the second time in his England career in the World Cup qualifying win against Austria.

Beckham was shown two yellow cards for fouls on Andreas Ibertsberger in the space of two second-half minutes.

The England captain said after the 1-0 win: "The first one was harsh, but the second one was even harsher. Everyone who has seen it has said the same.

"I couldn't understand it. I don't think it was a sending off at all."

Beckham and referee Luis Medina Cantalejo have crossed paths before, in Spanish domestic football, and on one occasion there was a similar result.

And Beckham added: "I saw the referee's reaction when he looked at the linesman and I knew what was going to happen."

The referee dismissed the Real Madrid midfielder for two bookable offences in a Copa del Rey - the Spanish Cup - quarter-final fixture against Valencia, in the 2003-04 season.

Beckham hinted England could appeal against the decision, but one yellow card would have been enough to rule him out of the final group game against Poland at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson suffered another blow as he revealed Sol Campbell would miss out after picking up a hamstring injury.

Eriksson said: "Beckham is out because of the booking, and Sol Campbell is out for sure because that was a hamstring problem."

Beckham, however, was satisfied with the win, saying: "This team has got character, despite what people say, and they showed that when we were down to 10 men.

"We'd have taken a 1-0 win before the game. It doesn't matter how you play or how you get the three points, it is simply the result that matters at this stage."

England boss Eriksson echoed Beckham's frustration about the sending off.

He said: "From the bench I thought it was very harsh. He had his arms up for the first one, but he was not out to hurt anyone.

"It was a foul, but for the second I don't think he even touched him."

Eriksson declared himself happy with a win that pushed England to the brink of World Cup qualification - which was confirmed later by Holland's 2-0 win over the Czech Republic.

He said: "It was nervy, but it was always going to be when you play with 10 men for around 35 minutes. We suffered but we did it together.

"Austria were physically a very strong team and put in a lot of long, high balls, but we defended brilliantly and fought all together as a team."

Austria coach Willi Ruttensteiner shared Eriksson's view that Beckham did not deserve to be sent off.

"I don't think it was a correct decision to send Beckham off," he said.

Asked if he thought Andreas Ibertsberger had dived for the second yellow card, Ruttensteiner said: "He's normally a fair player and wouldn't try and provoke Beckham."