England lost their most recent qualifier away to Northern Ireland but the coach says that he is certain his players are still behind him as England look to secure the six points that would see them qualify for Germany 2006.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, Eriksson said: "I have lost the players? There is no chance. To say that because of that 90 minutes I have lost the power in the dressing room, the feeling between me and the players is lost, there is no chance."

Eriksson also came under criticism for supposedly favouring David Beckham but the coach reiterated the fact that the England captain is treated the same way as any other player in the squad.

"He is handled in the same way as all the other players," Eriksson added. "The only difference is that I talk to him more than the others because he is the captain.

"No player, captain or otherwise, has influence on which team or squad I pick or which tactics I use. That is between me and my coaching staff."

Eriksson hinted that he might revert to his preferred 4-4-2 system for the Group Six games against Austria and Poland after using 4-5-1 in recent matches.

"I've not abandoned the single striker," he said. "We can play that way, I thought it was necessary against [Northern] Ireland.

"But I prefer 4-4-2 and so do the players. I've played that way with every team I've coached.

"When you lose and play badly, as we did in Belfast, suddenly people say everything is wrong - the players are wrong, the tactics are wrong, the mood in the dressing room is wrong, the feeling between me and the players is wrong, everything.

"Whatever the tactical system, with the players we have we should have played much better than we did.

"We played 4-5-1 in Belfast partly because some of the players were not 100%. It is all history now.

"What I do know is that some of those players, three weeks later, are now playing much better for their clubs."

And the coach is confident that his team will secure the victories needed over Austria and Poland to secure their place at next year's World Cup finals.

"If I was an outsider looking at it from an objective viewpoint, I would back England to win those two home matches," he said.

"Personally I can't wait for those matches. I've spoken to some of the players and know they feel the same. It is in our hands and we are very happy with that situation.

"It would be far worse if we had to rely on others."

Sven names his squad for the two qualifiers here on TheFA.com on Sunday evening.