Matthew Upson believes England are training to their highest level.
England v Slovakia
International Friendly
5.15pm, Saturday 28 March 2009
Wembley Stadium
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England v Ukraine
2010 FIFA World CupTM Qualifier
8pm, Wednesday 1 April 2009
Wembley Stadium
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Ahead of the Slovakia and Ukraine double-header, Matthew Upson insists that all of the England squad are fully aware of the importance of training as The Three Lions look for two victories at Wembley Stadium.
Fabio Capello’s men have spent the last three days preparing at London Colney, and Upson says he and his England team-mates have been encouraged by their manager’s attitude to training.
"We try to make full use of these days," Upson said. "The manager always says to us at training 'you can't have this day again', so when we train it's important that we focus and concentrate almost as if we were playing.
"The ten-day get-togethers are the only real time you get a bit of rhythm and routine in the sessions and the daily routine generally."
Upson is joined in the squad by fellow Hammers, Robert Green and Carlton Cole and the defender says Cole’s inclusion is fully justified.
"He's had a great run ever since Gianfranco Zola took over. He has known how to get the best out of Carlton, and Carlton in turn has put in some great performances. He deserves his call-up and he deserves his opportunity."
Cole came off the bench to make his England debut in Seville last month, where England lost 2-0 to the European Champions. Despite the defeat, Upson is confident that lessons have been learned.
"That Spain game was a massive test. We were probably playing against one of the best teams in the world right now and it was a good opportunity to put ourselves up against that calibre of player so it was a good experience for us.
"There are big lessons to be learned in defeat; people often say that you learn more about yourself when you lose than when you win. It's never a nice experience to lose a game, obviously, but you need to take the positives out of the game and learn a lot from the things we didn't do well enough. That's something the manager has analysed since that game."
Slovakia are England’s first opponents at Wembley Stadium since Kazakhstan visited in October last year and the 30-year-old centre-back admits that he is keen for Wembley to become a fortress.
"A lot of people have said that perhaps we haven't performed as well as we should at the new Wembley, and they've probably got a right to say that. I think it's up to us to understand why we haven't performed and put that right and get some really good team performances and good results there.
"We really need to work to bring that level of performance from our away games back to Wembley.
"It's such a fantastic arena to play in and I'm sure the team will be giving it everything they've got."