Friday, March 29, 2024

Jagielka alert to Polish threat

SoccerNews in World Cup 14 Oct 2012

82 Views

England defender Phil Jagielka says his side are anticipating a rigorous test against Poland in Warsaw on Tuesday.

The Everton centre-back was rarely troubled on Friday as England collected their first home win of the World Cup 2014 qualifying campaign with a 5-0 rout of San Marino.

Jagielka was pleased to record a morale-boosting victory but acknowledged that the Euro 2012 co-hosts would present a far sterner proposition away from Wembley.

“Three points in the bag, five goals scored and none conceded, as far as we’re concerned it was a good professional job done,” Jagielka told the Football Association’s official website.

“We knew what kind of a test we were in for and we got through it okay – is probably about the right word – and we knew that Tuesday is probably going to be a lot more of a test.

“It was all about a clean sheet from the defensive point of view and for the front men to create and score goals and get some confidence heading into Tuesday.

“We’re expecting a much more difficult game on Tuesday night.”

England will have to do without Chelsea duo Frank Lampard and Ryan Bertrand at the National Stadium, while Theo Walcott will also sit out the match after suffering a bruised lung in a challenge with San Marino goalkeeper Aldo Simoncini.

But Jagielka insists Roy Hodgson’s side have more than enough strength in depth to deal with the latest injury setbacks.

“Frank’s done well for England, especially recently, so we will be missing him,” Jagielka said.

“But if you look at the other night’s game, Michael (Carrick) and Tom (Cleverley) did fantastically well and we’ve also got our captain (Steven Gerrard) to come back, so cover for Frank not being here is looking really good at the moment.”

While conceding Lampard’s absence was a setback, midfielder Cleverley is confident his side have the cover overcome a difficult test against the Poles.

“Frank is a great player and can offer a lot to any team in the world,” Cleverley said.

“He’s a box to box player and scores from midfield so he’s a big part to our team. It’s a loss for us but that’s why you have squads. We have a lot of good midfielders and hopefully he won’t be missed.

“They’ve (Poland) got a lot of good players, I watched some of them in the Euros and Dortmund had a couple in their Champions League game with City.

“But we’ve prepared well, we’ve worked hard and we’ll watch them over the next few days and find out what they can throw at us on Tuesday.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SoccerNews

Soccernews.com is news blog for soccer with comprehensive coverage of all the major leagues in Europe, as well as MLS in the United States. In addition we offer breaking news for transfers and transfer rumors, ticket sales, betting tips and offers, match previews, and in-depth editorials.

You can follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/soccernews.com or Twitter: @soccernewsfeed.

SHARE OR COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE

WE RECOMMEND

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This field is required *

Join the conversation!

or Register

More More
Top