England News

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

• Ground:Wembley Stadium
• Capacity:90,000

Lamps has crowd concerns

18 Nov 2007 - 12:41:45

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England midfielder Frank Lampard is concerned that the Wembley crowd could turn on the players if they struggle against Croatia on Wednesday.

Steve McClaren's side were given an unexpected boost by Israel's 2-1 victory against Russia on Saturday and now need only a point against the Croats to seal a place in next summer's Euro 2008 finals.

However, Lampard, who has been booed by England fans in the past, is concerned what might happen if Croatia take a shock lead at Wembley.

The Chelsea star told the News of the World: "There's still the chance that the mood of the England crowd will change if we don't get the result we want against Croatia. So we must be ready to take it and deal with it.

"I was in the crowd in Barcelona watching the qualifier against Andorra and I witnessed the anger and bitterness of certain England fans close up. It wasn't a pleasant experience. It was ugly and poisonous.

"But you have to accept there's a chance that Wednesday night could be even more of an ordeal for the manager and the players.

"It will hurt me if the Wembley crowd turns against us. If we don't get through then a lot of people are going to complain, will want to have a go and we must be big and brave enough to accept it."