However, I’m confident I’ll be fit for the England match on Saturday. It was a just a dead leg picked up in training and shouldn’t affect me too much in the next few days.

In any case, the anticipation of two huge games ahead of us against Austria and Poland will speed along my recovery.

I have been impatient for these matches to come along since the defeat to Northern Ireland in Belfast. This is our chance to put things right, and I’m confident we will. I can’t wait to get onto the Old Trafford pitch and I’m sure the rest of the lads are the same.

There was a lot of criticism after that game and we have to take it on the chin. We know the performance was not acceptable, both as a team and as individuals. We are all much better players than that.

There was a lot of frustration at the way we performed in Belfast. We let ourselves and the fans down. We are determined to react in the most positive way, and channel that frustration into much better performances.

There has been a lot written about supposed disharmony in the dressing room. Nothing could be further from the truth.

This is a tight squad, with a firm belief both in ourselves and in Sven-Goran Eriksson and the coaching staff. Team spirit will be important over the coming days. Rest assured, it is as strong as ever.

The players are fully behind The Manager. His record in competitive games is outstanding, and people seem to have forgotten that the defeat against Northern Ireland was his first in a qualifier in over four years.

Perhaps we have got used to a certain level of success under Sven. I have not changed my belief that he is the right man to lead us to Germany and achieve success there.

We still have automatic qualification in our own hands, and two victories will see us in Germany next year as group winners. I am convinced we will get those wins, and I’m sure no-one in the England camp will be thinking about any other scenario.

The World Cup is the pinnacle of any player’s career. We are all determined to get to Germany and test ourselves on the biggest stage of all.

Throughout my time as an England player, the team has always enjoyed magnificent support at home and abroad. It’s important all the fans know that we crave success as much as them.

To get there, we need two good results against Austria and Poland, and with a really passionate crowd behind us at Old Trafford, I have no doubt we can do it.