England v Holland
World Cup Qualifier
8.05pm, Thursday 31 August 2006
The Valley, Charlton Athletic FC
Live on Sky Sports

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Hope Powell has reminded her players and all the supporters heading to the Valley on Thursday to stay focused on the task at hand as they look to earn a crucial victory over Holland.

With two games left in the qualifying campaign it is possible that thoughts might jump ahead to the final match with second place France in September, but Hope is insistant that that will not happen.

"There is no room for complacency and everyone will have to remain totally committed and focused if we are to achieve our aim – starting with tonight’s game against a side who historically have always given us a tough time," Hope told TheFA.com.

"We beat them 1-0 in our group game at Zwolle last November, but it took a penalty to win the match and – although I felt we deserved the three points – we certainly had to battle throughout to get the result we wanted.

"It will undoubtedly be just as hard this evening and we have to be prepared for that. But we also have to go into the game believing we can win it and so give ourselves the best possible chance of going to France and completing our qualifying task."

Hope also revealed just how much it means to play at the home of Charlton Athletic. She said: "It’s good to be kicking off the new season with an important game at The Valley, where I was involved a couple of times as an England player and where for a while I’ve wanted a women’s international to be staged.

"Charlton Athletic are very supportive of the women’s game and I’m sure that all their efforts, together with those of The FA, will result in a good crowd and hopefully some excellent backing from the fans for the England team."

Although England will be forced to take on Holland without their captain Faye White, Hope is confident that the Three Lions have sufficient cover to make up for her loss. 

"We are going into the game without our captain, Arsenal’s Faye White, who in pre-season sustained a cruciate ligament injury that will probably force her to miss the vast majority of the current campaign," Hope explained.

"I feel saddened for Faye, who also missed the closing stages of our 2003 World Cup qualifying campaign through injury. But she is the ultimate professional and she will be doing her level best to get back into action at the earliest opportunity.

"She will of course be a loss to the team. But, as ever in this situation, it means that someone else gets the opportunity and I believe that we have good cover – not just in Faye’s central defensive position but in every other position too.

"We have some excellent youngsters coming through and they are pushing the more established players for places – and that’s a situation which can only be good for the squad and the future of the England team."

Stay with TheFA.com for all the build up to tomorrow night's game.