Q Last season you lifted Liverpool when their backs were to the wall - can you do the same with England?
A: "Yes, I hope so. The most important thing for me is to try and take my club form onto the international stage. I think my performances of late have been very average. I need to raise my game internationally and try and help lift the team and try get six points in the next two games.
Q How can you transfer your Liverpool form to England?
A: "It’s a difficult question to answer. But that’s what I’m going to be trying to do, taking my form club into country.
Q Looking back to the last game did you worry your place would be in jeopardy after that result?
A "Yes, I think so. I think every player that played against Ireland would be worried whether they were going to be picked for the next two games. I don’t think many players performed in those games and I’m no different. It was a worrying time in that dressing room after the game."
Q It must have been one of your lowest times with England?
A "I think the lowest, yes. The Denmark game wasn’t good either, getting beat 4-1. But it was only a friendly match. To get beat by Northern Ireland in a World Cup qualifier was low and I’m still hurting from it now."
Q Do the team owe the nation a performance?
A "Yes, big time. I think the most important thing over the next two games is points but it would be nice to entertain as well and pay the fans back for that embarrassing performance in Belfast."
Q Regarding your partnership with Frank Lampard, do you think there’s a lot to work on?
A "Yes, I think the partnership can definitely improve. I don’t think we’ve set the world alight. But we will be able to adapt and make it work. I’ve spoken to Frank about this a lot and we will do. We’ll work on the partnership and we’re confident we can make it work."
Q Is the answer for one of you to attack and one to sit?
A: "I think I’m naturally more defensive than Frank and maybe he’s a bit more forward-thinking than myself, so I think that’s how it works. But what the manager wants is when one of us goes forward for the other one to be disciplined and stay.
"I think naturally I’ll be a little bit more defensive than Frank."
Q You’ve already done it together in a major tournament, haven’t you?
A"Yes it worked and worked well at times in Euro 2004. Frank’s form was good in the tournament. Everyone knows I had distractions myself, I’m not using that as an excuse. The idea for me is to try and get the team to the world cup and hopefully you’ll see a different player in the next tournament.
Q Can you put one thing to bed. There was a lot of tension between Liverpool and Chelsea players, now you’re together with England is it ok?
A "It is strange. You know, me and Frank have been kicking lumps out of each other for the last week and now we have got to be best of mates and hopefully try and improve this relationship in the middle of the park. It is a bit strange.
Q There’s no hard feelings though?
A "No, of course not. Liverpool v Chelsea is a massive game and there’s going to be tackles flying in and the tempo is going to be quick. But when we meet up with England what happens at club level is forgotten and you get on with the job that needs doing here."
Q If England win Saturday and Czech Republic lose you will qualify automatically. What would that mean to the players to qualify without the Poland game?
A "It would mean everything. Getting to the World Cup as a player is a massive achievement, especially for myself after missing the last one. But we won’t be taking our foot off the gas for the Poland game because we want to win the group and it’s still in our hands if we get six points."
Q Is there extra pressure on you and Frank because England have come to rely on your goals as well?
A "There is a lot of pressure on us to perform, not to just score, at this level. Frank is a so-called important player at Chelsea and people say the same about me at Anfield. So when we come together maybe we’re both trying to do the same job. But the most important thing is to get results for England, it’s not about me and Frank Lampard, it’s about the team. If one of us needs to sit back a bit more and be a bit more disciplined, we need to make sure between us that that happens."
Q Sven said he won’t show you the video of Northern Ireland. Have you looked back over the game or do you just ignore that kind of thing?
A "Not all the time, in the changing room after the game if I feel need to look over a certain game or part of a game I will but I definitely won’t be asking for a video of the Northern Ireland game.
Q Did you really think you could be dropped?
A "I think so. I think it came into every player’s mind, it definitely came into mine. I’ve been a bit worried about my form at international level. But I’m confident in my ability at this level and I know I can produce and hopefully that will now happen."
Q Do you think you can improve?
A "I think so. I still think I’ve got things to prove at this level and if we get to the World Cup hopefully I can show that."
Q When you had that meeting with Sven did you and Frank say to him that you couldn’t play together?
A "No, we didn’t say that. That wasn’t true. The manager came to us and said he was going to play a different formation, what did we think. He asked for our opinions and we gave it. A lot of what was said in the media about that meeting was rubbish."
Q What was said?
A "Well the manager asked to see me, David and Frank. He said he wanted to play a different formation. He showed us what roles he wanted to play and said let’s see how it goes. But we didn’t tell him how we were going to play.
Q Looking back would you now say it wasn’t a good idea?
A "I agree it didn’t work but that doesn’t mean that 4-5-1 wouldn’t work in the future. We have to have a look at what opposition we come up against and decide what formation to go with."
Q Do you worry about your performances with England a lot?
A "I wouldn’t say a lot, but I’m definitely thinking about it. It is a little bit of a concern. I wouldn’t say I was overly worried because I’m confident that I can hit club form at this level."
Q You play with a holding midfielder at Liverpool in Didi Hamann, Chelsea play with Makelele, Arsenal with Gilberto Silva, how difficult is it to change with England?
A "It is a bit difficult but I will need to adapt and be more disciplined if the manager does decide to go with me and Frank. Frank’s main strengths are going forward and getting into the box so if there is a need to adapt a bit more I will do it."
Q A club level you can build it up but with England you only play once every six weeks, is that harder?
A "It is difficult to come in and set the world alight in the holding role but I do feel I’ve got the ability to do it."
Q Does it feel good walking into the dressing room as a European champion now? Do you look at yourself differently?
A "I don’t know. I am confident in my own ability and I have done well for Liverpool at club level but when you come to England it’s completely different. It’s a different kind of pressure and the games are different."
Q When did you last come off the pitch feeling you had played really well for England?
A "I don’t know the exact date but it was quite a while ago. I don’t know.
I’ve had some highs and lows with England and hopefully the next two games I can go on to the level I want to perform at."
Q Is it about confidence?
A "I don’t think it’s a confidence thing. It’s just been hard to perform at international level, I’ve found the games really difficult. I don’t think it’s a confidence thing because the majority of times when I’m meeting up with England I’ve been doing really well with Liverpool. As I say, I just want us to get the Ireland memories out of our system and perform well as individuals and hopefully get three points. Then hopefully the team will do well."
Q Do you still have faith in the manager you’ve always had?
A "Yes, definitely. I don’t think the manager is to blame for the bad performances of late. There’s enough quality in that dressing room to go to Denmark and win, to beat Wales more comfortably and to turn over Northern Ireland. I don’t think it’s the manager it’s the players he picked that you have to blame."
Q A lot of the senior players are not so certain of their place after recent games, can that be a healthy thing?
A "I think it will be healthy. Maybe the team has been picking itself of late. But I think the performances of late mean the so-called big names are more on their toes now and not taking their positions for granted. I think we’ll see that in the performances now."
Q Rafa Benitez analyses the opposition, does Sven do the same?
A "I think you have to respect that the England manager doesn’t get much time with the players. Rafa has the players day-in day out. To be a club manager and an international manager is completely different. What I will say is that they are two fantastic coaches and I enjoy working for both of them."