Henderson heading to Estonia full of confidence

Saturday 11 Oct 2014
Jordan Henderson won his 16th cap for England against San Marino

Jordan Henderson is expecting a difficult game against Estonia on Sunday but believes England have the quality to pick up a third win in their European Qualifiers.

The Three Lions travel to Tallinn for their latest Group E encounter and another three points will keep them top of the table after victories against Switzerland and San Marino.

However, Estonia will themselves be looking to add to their success over Slovenia last month.

Estonia v England

European Qualifier Group E
5pm (BST), Sunday 12 October
A Le Coq Arena, Tallinn
Watch live on ITV 

Henderson said: "Estonia are a team who will be very difficult to beat, very organised, so we've got to go there and be at the top of our game to get a good result, like we were in Switzerland.

"We have to go into go into the game with the same mentality and preparation in order to get the three points that we want.

"They have had some good results, but we'll go into it confident, we have good enough players and a good enough team to go there and get a result and a good performance. That's what we'll look to do."

He added: "We feel as though we can still do a lot more, we can still improve.

"We've been good over the last few games but there's still a long way of from where we want to be, but there is a lot of talent, a lot of potential in the group.

"If we keep working hard on the training field and putting it into the games we'll get there."

Jordan Henderson speaks to FATV

Henderson and his team-mates will arrive in Estonia on the back of a 5-0 win over San Marino at Wembley on Thursday.

England enjoyed the lion's share of possession against the San Marino and spent much of the game on the attack as the visitors defended in numbers.

But the Liverpool man believes it will help them learn and prepare for other opponents who will look to defend for large periods of games.

"It's different because there are not many times when a team doesn't look to attack. You maybe try things that you wouldn't normally do, or force passes that you wouldn't normally do," said the Liverpool midfielder.

"But that's you just trying to unlock things and break them down.

"It was definitely a game we wanted to go into and try a few things that we'd worked on in training. We did that and hopefully we can do it even better on Sunday.

"It was a good test, you are going to get that at club and international level where teams drop off with ten men behind the ball, trying to make it difficult.

"You have to find a way to break them down, and it can be very hard but you have to stay patient, build the play well and don't force it too many times.

"Maybe in other games when it's a bit more open it might be a little bit easier to find a pass. I felt as though we done that well at times in the game, especially in the second half, I thought we were more patient.

"The build-up was better and we had more chances, so overall it was a good night, pleasing to get the three points and now we move on to Estonia."

Adam Lallana

Adam Lallana in action against San Marino

Henderson played for the first 45 minutes against San Marino and was replaced at half-time by his Liverpool team-mate Adam Lallana.

Lallana joined the Reds from Southampton following the World Cup, but injury forced him out of the early stages of the season, including England's games against Norway and Switzerland in September.

But he returned to action for his country on Thursday, and Henderson believes he can become a very important player for England this campaign.

"Ads did very well when he came on," said the 24-year-old. "He's been brilliant since he came to Liverpool and obviously picked up an injury, which was unfortunate.

"But he's worked really hard behind the scenes to get back fit and now he's looking back to where he wants to be - sharp, fit - and you can see that in his closing down, his pressing on the ball and when we are on attack.

"I think that's a massive plus for Liverpool and England, because he's a fantastic player and hopefully he'll only keep getting better."

By Jamie Bradbury FA Editor at the England team hotel