Gerrard's Israel hope
Wednesday, 14 November, 2007
Steven Gerrard admits he is hopeful that Israel can do the Three Lions a big favour on Saturday.
Austria v England
International Friendly
8pm, Friday 16 November 2007
Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna
Live on Sky Sports
Steven Gerrard admits he is hoping Israel can do England a favour and beat Russia this weekend to boost the chances of the Three Lions qualifying for Euro 2008.
Russia will end England's hopes if they beat Israel on Saturday and then go on to defeat Andorra, but Gerrard is confident they will not find it easy in Tel Aviv.
"It will be a tough game for Russia in Israel, we had a very difficult trip over there ourselves, we came up against a very well organised side," explained the Liverpool midfielder.
"We hope they can do the same against Russia and get a result. Israel are the home side and I have been talking to Yossi Benayoun and he has been talking me through their tactics and I think they can do a job."
As England prepare for Friday's friendly against Austria and next week's must-win European Championship qualifier with Croatia at Wembley, Gerrard believes the team have been moving in the right direction over the past few months.
"We have been moving forward recently and I think that results have been positive," he added.
"We had five 3-0 wins on the spin and despite not getting the result we wanted in Russia we were really positive. We feel as if we are moving in the right direction."