England Cerebral Palsy Head Coach Paul Harrison is urging more players to get involved with the Three Lions as he starts the countdown to the World Cup.

Harrison put the team through their paces in Lilleshall last weekend as he began his preparations for November's showpiece event in Brazil.

However, the coach knows the team's chances of success at the World Cup would be greatly improved if more people were to sign up.

"There are a lot of people out there who don't know the opportunities," said Harrison.

"It's a great opportunity - do they know they can play for their country, possibly go to the Paralympics, play at the World Cup and have weekends away at Lilleshall?"

England’s CP team has only been under the auspices of The FA for six years and Harrison admits that it's still something of an unknown quantity.

Of the 60 million people in England, around one in 400 has cerebral palsy. A vast number of people with the disability are unaware of the England team while many others are unwilling to admit they have the disorder.

"We have 60 million to choose from, the Republic of Ireland have just three, but they have better players than we do," insists Harrison.

"We know the players are out there. We need to promote it more, market it, do roadshows, go about the counties.

"There is not enough strength in depth in my squad. I relate it to women's football 25 years ago. It's still finding it's feet."

Recruitment aside, 2007 is a big year for Harrison's team culminating in the World Cup in the autumn.

The weekend meeting was the first time the team have met since last July, when England finished fifth in the European Championship in Dublin following a last-gasp win over Spain.

Despite the snow - some players took six and a half hours to reach Lilleshall on Friday night - the fitness and training work was a huge success.

"It was a very good session," said Harrison. "We had some time with the fitness guy on Saturday, which was good, but it took a lot of time so that's why I stayed out for longer on Sunday."

England have friendlies with Finland and Holland in March and might be taking part in a tournament in Holland in May as they step-up their training for Brazil.

"With us playing Finland and Holland - Holland are ranked above us, Finland below us - we needed to get back into shape. Some of the lads were new too, so it was a good chance to introduce them.

"The tournament in May will be a great learning experience," Harrison added.

"That will show us a real step-up in what we will see. In August we have the opportunity to go to Macau - that will be superb. We can work on shape, technique, tactics, set-plays. The players need that."

While Finland and Holland present beatable opposition, it is Ukraine who set the standard when it comes to CP football.

"They are triple World and Olympic champions and have never been beaten in 12 years," drooled Harrison. "We played them at the World Cup in Argentina in 2003 and only lost 1-0. It was a tremendous achievement. They are full-time!"

If you are over 14 years old, have CP, play regular football, and want to play for England, then The FA CP Management Team wants to hear from you. Please contact Andrew Hailwood, Team Manager, on 07984 003469, or at Andrew.Hailwood@TheFA.com.