Most players dream of leading out their country in the Six Nations Championship _ but Matt Dawson is hoping his ambition is not realised just yet.

The England vice-captain still believes Martin Johnson will recover from the Achilles injury which has blighted his season since the World Cup to take his place in the Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship opener against Ireland. Johnson has only just started running again, and Leicester coach Dean Richards is still debating whether he should have a role in this weekend's Tetley's Bitter Cup clash with London Irish.

Dawson said: ``The most crucial question for us at the moment is Martin's fitness. It's vital he gets fit again as quickly as possible and continues the good work he's done as captain. The rumour is he'll play this weekend and hopefully be ready for Ireland.

``He's a massive influence on the team. However, we have no shortage of leadership qualities on the pitch with Lawrence Dallaglio, Neil Back and Jason Leonard.''

Dawson first captained England on their southern hemisphere tour in 1998, a nightmare trip which saw England return home without a single victory having conceded 198 points and scored just 38 in four heavy Test defeats.

But Dawson believes he is again ready to rise to the challenge of captaincy if Johnson fails to win his fitness battle.

"I've captained England in adverse conditions before, so I know what to expect. At the moment I'm still vice-captain and I'm hoping that to be the case against Ireland,'' he said.

``But if Martin's not fit I'm ready. I've got plenty of support from the team, and that assists any leadership.''

Dawson also dismissed comments by former England captain Will Carling that national coach Clive Woodward should be replaced. Carling has been critical of Woodward ever since England's World Cup failure and has claimed the coach does not have the full support of his players.

But Dawson believes the current coaching structure will be rewarded in the forthcoming Six Nations series. ``I'm very happy with the set-up. If there were any changes it would be the RFU's decision, not the players. The situation we have at the moment works well,'' he said.

``We took a mauling in the World Cup, but that's in the past now. It took me about three weeks to get over it, and then I focused on my key objective _ to become one of the first Six Nations champions.''

With eight days to go to the Twickenham opener, newly appointed Irish captain Keith Wood will certainly not lose sleep over Johnson's injury worries. The front-row star witnessed Johnson's captaincy at first hand during the successful South African Lions tour and knows his influence on the side is invaluable.

Wood said: ``Martin's a fantastic player. He's hard, abrasive and dedicated. He's got great passion and not having him play will definitely have an effect.

``They've got quality players to replace him, but losing his captaincy will make a difference.''