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England confident of win against Russia
England expects to earn its sixth straight win in qualifying for the next year's European Championship when it faces Russia on Wednesday.
- Associated Press
- Updated: October 18, 2007 07:47 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Moscow:
"We've just won our last three games 3-0 and we beat Russia 3-0 a few weeks ago. Whoever we play, we go out to win," England manager Steve McClaren said after Saturday's win over Estonia.
England is in second place in Group E with 23 points, three behind leader Croatia. Russia is third with 18 points and a game in hand.
A victory on Wednesday would secure England at least second place in the group and a berth in the final tournament.
"The only thing we need is to win," Russia coach Guus Hiddink said Monday. "But we have a meeting with an opponent who has gathered a lot of confidence in recent five, six matches. They have very good results."
Russia will be without FC Nuremberg striker Ivan Saenko, who left the team's camp with a relapse of an ankle injury after several practice sessions on the artificial field of the Luzhniki stadium. Midfielder Roman Shirokov, a newcomer to the team, was called up as a possible substitute.
McClaren was not much worried about playing on an unusual surface.
"We've done our research into that fieldturf and grass. There is no significant difference between the surfaces," McClaren said.
England will be without left back Ashley Cole, who is out with a left ankle injury he picked up in the second half Saturday. But Russia hardly will capitalize on the right flank as Spartak Moscow halfback Vladimir Bystrov is also out with a knee injury.
Cole could be replaced by Luke Young or Joleon Lescott, who is usually a central defender and made his debut Saturday.
England captain John Terry could be back after a knee injury, while Frank Lampard could return in midfield despite being jeered as a substitute on Saturday.
"We're in pole position. It's up to us," McClaren said. "We'll go for balance. You want to be hard to beat. You want to make sure you keep a clean sheet there and try and get the result. A draw will be suitable."
Hiddink, who has recently extended his contract with the Russian soccer union until 2010 and is setting up a new, younger team, said "a period when we were sloppy in defensive work of the whole team" led to a 3-0 loss to England in September.
"We must be good in all aspects of the game on Wednesday," Hiddink said. "And we hope they (England) will not have that good day they had recently in their games."
England expects to earn its sixth straight win in qualifying for the next year's European Championship when it faces Russia on Wednesday."We've just won our last three games 3-0 and we beat Russia 3-0 a few weeks ago. Whoever we play, we go out to win," England manager Steve McClaren said after Saturday's win over Estonia.
England is in second place in Group E with 23 points, three behind leader Croatia. Russia is third with 18 points and a game in hand.
A victory on Wednesday would secure England at least second place in the group and a berth in the final tournament.
"The only thing we need is to win," Russia coach Guus Hiddink said Monday. "But we have a meeting with an opponent who has gathered a lot of confidence in recent five, six matches. They have very good results."
Russia will be without FC Nuremberg striker Ivan Saenko, who left the team's camp with a relapse of an ankle injury after several practice sessions on the artificial field of the Luzhniki stadium. Midfielder Roman Shirokov, a newcomer to the team, was called up as a possible substitute.
McClaren was not much worried about playing on an unusual surface.
"We've done our research into that fieldturf and grass. There is no significant difference between the surfaces," McClaren said.
England will be without left back Ashley Cole, who is out with a left ankle injury he picked up in the second half Saturday. But Russia hardly will capitalize on the right flank as Spartak Moscow halfback Vladimir Bystrov is also out with a knee injury.
Cole could be replaced by Luke Young or Joleon Lescott, who is usually a central defender and made his debut Saturday.
England captain John Terry could be back after a knee injury, while Frank Lampard could return in midfield despite being jeered as a substitute on Saturday.
"We're in pole position. It's up to us," McClaren said. "We'll go for balance. You want to be hard to beat. You want to make sure you keep a clean sheet there and try and get the result. A draw will be suitable."
Hiddink, who has recently extended his contract with the Russian soccer union until 2010 and is setting up a new, younger team, said "a period when we were sloppy in defensive work of the whole team" led to a 3-0 loss to England in September.
"We must be good in all aspects of the game on Wednesday," Hiddink said. "And we hope they (England) will not have that good day they had recently in their games."
Topics mentioned in this article
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