England News

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

• Ground:Wembley Stadium
• Capacity:90,000

Gerrard set to start

07 Sep 2007 - 17:39:58

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England boss Steve McClaren has confirmed that Steven Gerrard will start Saturday's crunch Euro 2008 qualifier against Israel at Wembley.

The influential Liverpool captain has been struggling with the broken toe he suffered in a Champions League encounter with Toulouse last month, but he was able to train on Friday without suffering any ill-effects.

Paul Robinson will start in goal despite his poor form at the start of this season, but Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves remains a doubt because of a thigh problem.

McClaren said of Gerrard: "It will be a big boost for everyone but most of all it will be a boost for Stevie Gerrard because he wants to play in this game.

"Owen Hargreaves also wants to play every game and we're giving him every opportunity, but we'll leave it up to the player and the medics."

England captain John Terry is unsure whether Hargreaves will be ready to feature against Israel, saying: "He was on the sidelines watching what we were doing formation-wise and for set-plays.

"It was an idea to make sure he was fully OK and to give him another day's rest. It's touch and go whether he is going to be OK for the game."

England are already without Frank Lampard and David Beckham because of thigh and knee injuries respectively.