Ready for Russia
Monday, 10 September, 2007
Steven Gerrard urges focus on Wednesday's game with Russia after the 3-0 win over Israel at Wembley.
England v
Russia
UEFA European Championship Qualifier
8pm, Wednesday 12 September 2007
Wembley Stadium
Live on BBC1
Steven Gerrard has urged his Three Lions team-mates to forget about their victory over Israel and concentrate straight away on beating Russia on Wednesday.
England moved up to third in Group E with a convincing 3-0 triumph over the Israelis on Saturday in a crucial Euro 2008 qualifier at Wembley.
But there is little time to celebrate because now the focus switches immediately to Wednesday's massive match against second-placed Russia, also at Wembley.
Gerrard said: "We’ve got the first job done and now we have to quickly get our minds set on Russia because I’m sure that game will be tougher.
“We need to deliver the same again. We need three points and another positive performance.
"It was a good result against Israel and there were a lot of positives to take from the game, but we’re not getting carried away."
Gerrard, whose broken toe gave him no problems on Saturday, insists he will be fit to face the Russians despite leaving the pitch early against Israel with a spot of cramp.
Now he says the team must do everything possible to make it six points out of the two home games.
“The most important thing now for this team is to focus on Wednesday night,” he added.
“It’s a big game. It’s going to be tough but we take a lot of confidence from beating Israel and if we can improve on that performance I’m sure we can get the right result on Wednesday."