The World Cup-winning coach is adamant the signs are positive for his side despite another unconvincing display against Ukraine

Vicente del Bosque is confident Spain are not far from returning to the standard which saw them dominate international football.

The European champions sealed a narrow 1-0 win over Ukraine thanks to a goal from Alvaro Morata on Friday but struggled for spells against a stubborn visiting side.

La Roja produced a dismal defence of their World Cup crown in 2014 and question marks remain over their chances of defending the European title they have won twice in a row.

But Del Bosque insists his evolving side are getting close to the kind of form they showed between 2008 and 2012 as he prepares to face Netherlands in Tuesday's friendly.

"It's the logical reaction after what happened at the World Cup," he was quoted as saying by AS. "Before, we were blessed, and now everyone fixes on everything bad rather than good.

"Everything seems bad, but it isn't. We're doing some good things, and some very good things. Spain are not far from what they were.

"We got a vital victory [against Ukraine]. We didn't concede and we were able to stop two good players in [Andriy] Yarmolenko and [Yevhen] Konoplyanka.

"The affection from the fans will recover with wins and good performances. We are the champions of Europe and we want to be in France to defend the title.

"[Tuesday] will be a tough game. The fans will expect something, but we will be able to compete with those fans.

"We all know Spain suffer when we don't have the ball, it's no secret. New people have come in, we are adjusting. Once we improve our attacking game we'll notice a positive change."