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England´s Terry wary of Russia threat in Euro 2008 clash
LONDON (AFP) - John Terry has warned that Russia will provide England with a much tougher test of their Euro 2008 qualifying credentials than Israel did at the weekend.
Morale in Steve McClaren's squad has been bolstered by the ease with which the normally resilient Israelis were taken apart in a 3-0 Wembley win on Saturday.
But their skipper Terry is expecting a busier 90 minutes against the Russians, who are unbeaten in group E and currently occupy the second qualifying spot, behind Croatia and a point ahead of England.
"Russia are a much more organised side, maybe a lot better (than Israel)," Terry said. "But we rose to the challenge at the weekend and we have got to do it again."
The Chelsea centreback takes heart from the fact that England have, in recent years, reserved their best performances for their meetings with their toughest opponents.
"When the pressure is really on, we do rise to it," Terry said. "Against Israel, right from the word go we set the tempo and put them under a lot of pressure early on and got the crowd right behind us.
"They felt the pressure and that was our mentality before the game. If we get something similar against a good side, it will affect their game."
With four matches to play in the qualifying campaign, England know they cannot afford any slip-ups if they are to reach next year's finals.
A victory on Wednesday night would leave England in a position where a draw on Russia's plastic pitch in Moscow next month would make them favourites to qualify with Croatia.
"That's why the home game is going to be massive," Terry said. "It (Moscow) is a tough place to go, especially with the pitch, but if we can get the right result here we can assess things."
McLaren had been expected to name an unchanged side after learning on Monday that neither Owen Hargreaves or Frank Lampard had sufficiently recovered from thigh injuries to be risked against Russia.
But he hinted there could be changes to his line-up to neutralise what is expected to be a 3-5-1-1 Russian line-up.
"It is a different challenge, a tougher challenge," the former Middlesbrough boss said.
"Russia play a different system so, much as we would like to keep the same shape and formation, we may have to tweak one or two things."
The most likely change to England's line-up is in attack, where Peter Crouch will be hoping to return to the starting side at the expense of Emile Heskey, who combined well with Michael Owen on Saturday.
Crouch missed the Israel match through suspension and McClaren's positive endorsement of his ability suggested he could be asked to support Owen while also helping out England's outnumbered midfield.
"He is a big player for us," McClaren said of the giant Liverpool forward. "He scores goals and is effective playing with Michael Owen. It is great to have that option coming back."
Underpinning England's fine performance on Saturday was a string of partnerships that worked well: Owen and Heskey in attack, Steven Gerrard and Gareth Barry in central midfield, the two Coles, Ashley and Joe, down the left, and Micah Richards and Shaun Wright-Phillips on the right.
McClaren added: "There is a lot of confidence, a lot of self-belief in the team. We need to keep that, bottle it and take it into the Russia game."
McClaren echoed Terry's warning about England's limited room for error against opponents who have conceded only one goal in eight games in the group.
"This is coming to the nitty gritty. We can't afford any slip-ups and the players know that."
He added: "Russia will be very difficult to break down, they have an excellent defensive record. We will treat them with respect but it is about England and how we perform."
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