• World Cup qualifying

Gerrard: We can't make same mistake

ESPN staff
September 11, 2012
England laboured to overcome Ukraine at Euro 2012 © Getty Images
Enlarge

England captain Steven Gerrard has urged his team-mates not to fall into the same trap against Ukraine as they did at Euro 2012.

Wayne Rooney scored the only goal of that game in Donetsk as England ensured they qualified for the knockout stage as Group D winners.

However, it was not the most fluent of performances from Roy Hodgson's men, and Gerrard feels they did not put Ukraine under enough pressure in possession.

Ahead of the World Cup qualifying meeting between the sides at Wembley on Tuesday, Gerrard has stressed the importance of not making the same mistake again.

"There were times in the Euros when we gave them too much respect and stood off them and they had a few dangerous opportunities to score," Gerrard said. "Over the 90 minutes they could feel hard done by not to have got at least a point.

"The difference for this game is we didn't know too much about Moldova before that game [a 5-0 win for England on Friday]. We performed really well, but this game will be a bigger and tougher test. If you stand off them and give them too much respect, they have players who can hurt us. We need to be on it against them.

"But we won the game in the Euros, did what we needed to do, and hopefully we can get the same outcome.

"They have got our respect, they are a dangerous team. We were defensively strong against them in the summer and we got the job done. They will have a respect for us as well."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices