England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson will have an assistant in place for next game.

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson will have an assistant in place for the next game in February....

Sven has revealed that, after this get-together, finding his new coach will become a serious priority...and he is prepared to search far and wide for the right man.

"I'm going to talk to the players about it," he said. "I'm not going to ask them if they want an assistant manager, but I do want some of their opinions.

"And as well as listening to players' opinions, I'll sit down with (acting technical director) Les Reed, (joint acting chief executive) David Davies and Tord. Then we'll make a decision.

"I have names but I haven't decided who yet it will be...We'll take it up after the get-together, as we want a coach for February.

"Practically, we lost Peter Taylor and Steve McClaren for the same reason. It was too much for them and too difficult for them to concentrate on both their jobs.

"I respected and understood that. So if I take someone working in a club, I can't take a manager. I have to take a coach.

"Being a manager is quite different to being a coach. As a manager, you have a lot of other commitments. But as a coach, it's easier.

"I haven't discussed nationality - and to be fair, I don't think it matters. It could be coaches from all over the world, including England."

Sven has also admitted that it was great to have his players back together again having not seen them for a month.

"It's good to see the players," he said. "This kind of meeting is good for the progression of the squad as a group.

"If we don't have a friendly game in the future, I think we are going to do this. I hope the clubs are happy and I think they are."

One of the players that Sven is always happy to see is Steven Gerrard and, though Gerard Houllier has had some stern words for his midfield general, Sven is unperturbed by the situation.

"He's an extremely good player," Sven said.

"It happens now and again that managers try to wake up their players...when you talk about Steven Gerrard you think about great, great things."

Of the schedule he has planned fr Tuesday, Sven said:

"We we will play 11v11 in training and we might try something new. Then in the evening we visit Buckingham Palace.

Looking longer-term and to Euro 2004, Sven believes that top spot in the group is still a viable proposition. He said: "We can still win our qualification group but we will need to play better than we did against Macedonia and take more of the chances that we create...our games against Turkey will be vital."

There was also a piece of good news for David James - the England boss had seen the West Ham stopper's miraculous last minute save against Manchester United on Sunday.

"I had left the stadium but I saw the save later on television," he said. Sven will be able to take a far closer look at his players in action today morning.

Stay logged on for all the latest news from inside the England camp...

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