England v Macedonia
UEFA European Championship Qualifying Group E
5pm, Sat 7 October 2006
Old Trafford, Manchester
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05 October 2006
VIDEO: Paul Robinson press conference
There's nothing more a goalkeeper loves than keeping clean sheets, and Paul Robinson wants another on Saturday.
Paul Robinson believes he is a more confident and more complete goalkeeper having played in the World Cup finals.

The Tottenham number one didn’t always get great reviews for his performances in Germany but the bare facts are he conceded only two goals in five games.

And the 26-year-old star has continued that run with three clean sheets in a row under new Head Coach, Steve McClaren.

Now Robinson, who will win his 30th cap against Macedonia on Saturday, is hoping to make all that experience count in the Euro 2008 qualifiers.

He said: "The World Cup was a good experience. I will be a lot stronger person for it, having so many eyes and people watching you - and everyone having an opinion on your game and what you've done wrong and right. It opened my eyes to a few things.

"To be honest, though, I don't see what I did badly wrong. My progression as England keeper has been good; friendlies, qualifiers, and then the tournament. And I've got that experience and will learn from it and take it on into the next campaign."

Robinson has conceded only three goals in the last ten games now for England but admits losing out to Portugal in the World Cup quarter-finals was a huge blow for every member of the team.

He added: "The World Cup was difficult for us all. Beforehand people were asking us 'can we win the World Cup' and we are all confident.

"Maybe it was blown out of proportion and it was written that we were going to win the World Cup and the expectation was massive. Now we've got to concentrate on qualifying for tournaments before we start worrying about winning them.

"We are a very talented bunch of individuals and we will go there again in 2008 as a squad believing we can do well and achieve something. But first we have to qualify and this game on Saturday is not easy.

"We knew Macedonia had good ability when we played them away and they proved it. They are no mugs. They are a very strong footballing team with good players and they gave a good account of themselves in Skopje."

Robinson has been delighted with the way things have gone under McClaren, however, and that includes not just results on the pitch but also the atmosphere off it.

He said: "The team spirit is more of a club spirit. He wants us to play with high tempo and get back to playing the English way and training sharp. Training is very hard and we work on team shape and set plays. But we enjoy the intensity of it all."

Hopefully England can take that intensity into the heat of battle at Old Trafford on Saturday and go one step closer to qualification. And, of course, another clean sheet from Robinson wouldn’t go amiss, either!