Tottenham's Robinson is hoping he has done enough to convince coach Sven-Goran Eriksson that he is the man for the job after keeping his fourth successive clean sheet in the World Cup qualifying campaign.

England beat Northern Ireland 4-0 at Old Trafford last Saturday and followed up with Wednesday's 2-0 victory over Azerbaijan at St. James' Park.

And Manchester United centre-back Ferdinand, a former teammate of Robinson's at Leeds, reckons the keeper's late save against Azerbaijan showed why he has instilled such confidence in his defence.

Ferdinand said: "If you're going to be the goalkeeper for England, there are some games where you will end up doing virtually nothing for 89 minutes, then be called on to make a save - and Paul did that.

"He's a top keeper, England's No 1 at the moment. He's got the jersey, but there are keepers behind him with talent and David James and Robert Green are both waiting in the wings.

"Robbo is a young keeper. He has bags of ability and it's about him keeping his concentration and making saves when he needs to.

"He gives us confidence. I was with him at Leeds and he's always had great ability. His distribution is among the best in the game and he makes good saves.''

Robinson agrees that staying focused is the key. "I've kept a clean sheet, and I had to be ready when I was needed,'' he said. "Playing behind such a quality team, it's all about concentration.

"You're not going to be flying around making saves for 90 minutes in every game. You might just have to make one or two saves at crucial times.

"I would like to think I have cemented my place in the side now. I've kept four clean sheets in qualifying, so I'm pretty pleased. You feel a bit more relaxed in the sense that you feel you don't have to prove yourself every game.

"But when you play for England, you do have to improve every game because there's always someone waiting to take your job.''