Fear plays a part - Hodgson

Victory for Roy Hodgson's England against Ukraine would give them breathing space in Group H
10 September 2013

Roy Hodgson has admitted the pressure is on as England face up to their World Cup D-day.

Victory over Ukraine on Tuesday evening in Kiev and Hodgson's men will have one foot in next summer's finals in Brazil.

Defeat in the stadium where England's Euro 2012 dream ended against Italy last summer and the very real possibility of missing out on their first World Cup since 1994 will start to loom large.

"Of course there is pressure," Hodgson said. "We are getting closer to the situation where we are either going to achieve our goals and qualify for the World Cup or we are going to fail.

"You cannot get away from that. But what does discussing and admitting it do?

"What would you like me to say in answer to the question? I don't feel any pressure and I couldn't care less? Or I can't sleep a wink and I'm frightened to death we are going to lose?

"Fear does plays a part in our lives. It plays a part in people's lives outside football.

"If you've got ambition to do your job well the fear that things might not go the way you'd want them to is always there.

"Sometimes you've got to be bold enough to trust in what you can do."

Hodgson has confirmed Frank Lampard will win his 100th cap in Kiev and that the only change to his starting line-up from Friday's 4-0 win over Moldova will be the suspended Danny Welbeck's replacement on the left-hand side of England's attack.

It will be the first time England have ever fielded three centurions at the same time.

And, at a combined age of 100, Hodgson believes Lampard, skipper Steven Gerrard and Ashley Cole provide a fine example for the youngsters attempting to emulate them.

"Those players give a lie to the fact that the England team doesn't matter to players, that the Champions League has taken over and players are only interested in getting a bigger contract and earning more money.

"Those three have done it at the very top.

"They are all Champions League winners and have goodness knows how many European games behind them.

"They don't need an extra England cap, yet I know there will be no prouder, willing players than those three."

The importance of Tuesday night's game cannot be understated.

Should England repeat their Euro 2012 victory over the same opponents, they will move four points clear of Ukraine and three ahead of Montenegro with a far better goal difference - the first determining factor in the event of a tie - with just two home games remaining.

A draw would keep England's noses at the head of Group H.

However, defeat would allow Ukraine to open up a two-point buffer, with one of their final two games a less-than-taxing trip to San Marino.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in