Q Steven Gerrard was talking about your partnership and saying maybe he should hold more. Is that right?
A "I understand there what you say about us having to take responsibility, if one goes the other one stays. I think we both have good attacking engines and you see that in our play week in week out. A lot of my stuff at Chelsea I don’t think is too much opposition box, I do a lot of stuff in the middle of the park trying to build the game up. I think we’re good enough players, intelligent enough players, to realise that when one goes the other stays and visa-versa. If Steven is saying he will hold that little bit more that’s fine by me but if he wants to get forward at the right time I’m happy to hold for him."
Q When you pull on a Chelsea shirt you must feel invincible but with England things have gone wrong recently, what’s the different vibe between the two?
A " You are obviously right, results are going great at Chelsea and we have a winning mentality and a feeling amongst the squad where we feel very confident. But football’s not always that simple and for England that hasn’t been how it’s gone at the moment. For England we have to keep in our minds how that feeling felt against Northern Ireland and Denmark but also look to be positive and get that winning mentality back into the team. Us Chelsea boys will try to bring a bit of confidence into the squad and hopefully we’ll have a confident attitude come the weekend."
Q What’s the difference, how come the Chelsea manager manages to get so much out of his players but with England its not the same?
A "It’s different. For Chelsea we’re on a very good run at the moment. But there were times last year when we lost against Newcastle and Barcelona and people were putting us under pressure going into the Carling Cup Final.
Every team has moments in a season or over a few seasons when things aren’t going too well and you need players to stand up and be counted. I think with England if you look back over the last year there’ s not many games we haven’t won and now we’ve had a little blip and it’s time for the players to stand up and be counted.
Q How did you feel after Northern Ireland?
A "As bad as you can feel as a player. We know we have a side that should beat Northern Ireland and we know we didn’t perform as we should do. It was a horrible feeling to go and play a local derby and lose the game. No-one is hiding from the fact, we all know well and we all weren’t happy with our performances individually and as a team. I think we’ve said before we have to remember the hurt and remember what a squad of players we have as well."
Q The manager took a lot of stick after the Northern Ireland game, do you want to win this match to ease the pressure on him?
A "You always want to play well for your manager. I have a good relationship and all the Chelsea boys with Mourinho and the Liverpool boys with Benitez and so on. When you have a relationship with your manager you want to play well for them and we’re no different. The thing with this is when we all play well we should all take the praise and when we play badly we should all take the criticism, and we’ll do that. You can talk about systems too much, with the players we have in the team we should go out and beat Northern Ireland, and we didn’t.
Q Has your belief that England are going to peak at the next World Cup been shaken by the result in Northern Ireland?
A "Obviously at the moment we’re not happy with the way we played but I think the belief is still there. Every team can go through these kind of patches and you have to get out of them and we’re aiming to do that this week. Then you have to take a bit of strength from that. You learn lessons through the bad patch and know why. I feel there are a lot of teams who have won World Cups who have not cruised through the group in the qualifying round to get there. Maybe you learn a little lesson on the way sometimes and hopefully we can qualify and make it right in the World Cup."
Q Has the result put senior players on their toes a bit more thinking their place is not secure and could it be healthy?
A "I don’t know, I can only talk personally and I’ve never felt that I’m a shoe-in. I think that probably stems from spending about three years in the squad and not playing at all. I know how easy it can be to be in that little group and it doesn’t feel nice. So I never cruise through games thinking ‘no problem I’m going to play the next one’.I know what you are saying, when you don’t play as well and teams don’t play as well as you can it makes you feel more determined to show you are an important player in the team. Maybe certain players will do that in the next couple of games and really show what they are about."
Q There was criticism of your performances for England and Sven said you were a slow starter to the season. What did you think of that?
A "I spoke to the manager about it and that’s not how he said it to me. I admit I didn’t play as well as I can in the last two England games but I don’t think I’ve had a slow start. I’m very happy with my club form at the moment. If you look at my record over previous seasons I don’t think I’m a slow starter, maybe I haven’t been at my best in the first few games of a season but if I was at my top level coming into the start of a season I would worry about keeping that form throughout the season and hopefully through the World Cup. I’ll naturally try and improve a bit as the season goes on.
Q Is it unthinkable for England not to reach the World Cup?
A "I don’t know about unthinkable because we have to get there and at the moment we’re not sure to get there and we have to make it happen. But for me, yeah, it’s a massive occasion I want to be involved in. It did hurt when I didn’t go to the last World Cup, it was a big disappointment for me. Now I’m much more prepared to impose myself on the stage of a World Cup and I’m desperate for a chance to do well there