England News

• Nickname:Three Lions
• Founded: 1872
• Manager:Roy Hodgson

• Ground:Wembley Stadium
• Capacity:90,000

Gerrard set to face Russia

09 Sep 2007 - 16:14:02

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Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard insists he will be fit enough to play against Russia in England's vital Euro 2008 qualifying match at Wembley on Wednesday.

The midfielder played in the 3-0 win against Israel on Saturday despite breaking his toe in last month's Champions League encounter between Liverpool and Toulouse.

He had to be substituted after 70 minutes of the comfortable win against the Israelis, but claims that was only a precaution.

"The toe is fine," Gerrard explained. "All I had was a bit of cramp. I haven't trained much for the last two or three weeks.

"I will be a lot stronger on Wednesday for getting that 70 minutes in. The toe is healing well and that is behind me now. I didn't need a pain-killer.

"I've got a few knocks and bumps but nothing that won't be sorted by Wednesday."

England are third in Group E after Russia beat FYR Macedonia 3-0 on Saturday and Croatia remained top after claiming a 2-0 victory against Estonia.