Progress has been made, but England still have some way to go before coach Wayne Bennett is satisfied.
Three days out from their Rugby League World Cup semi-final against Tonga in Auckland, England have few problems injury-wise, with Kevin Brown and Sam Burgess both on track to feature at Mt Smart Stadium.
Brown was knocked out during England's 36-6 quarter-final win over Papua New Guinea on Sunday but Bennett said he was "extremely confident" the stand-off would be good to go.
Burgess, returning from a knee ligament strain, tweaked an ankle against the Kumuls but Bennett says he doesn't expect that to be an issue.
And while England weren't at their best against Papua New Guinea, he's confident they'll lift against Tonga.
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Bennett was pleased with England's defence and build-up play against the Kumuls, but says his team lacked discipline with ball in hand and were dogged by a poor completion rate.
"The ball control's not exactly where I'd like it," he told media on Wednesday.
"There's been glimpses of it, there've been halves of it, but we've got to do it for a full game.
"We've just got to get our handling better, that's our major concern."
England will be tackling a Tongan outfit high on confidence after toppling New Zealand 28-22 in pool play, although they struggled to shrug off Lebanon 24-22 in last weekend's quarter-final.
Bennett acknowledged the threat Tonga posed, particularly given the level of support Mate Ma'a have commanded to date.
He wouldn't comment on any inexperience in the Tongan halves, where Ata Hingano and Tuimoala Lolohea had been seen as a potential weak link.
"They've got some quality players from their fullback right through to their front row, so that's a major threat.
"All the guys have been playing football, and they're playing pretty well."
