Eriksson prepares England for penalties

Published on Thursday 16 May 2002 01:00

THE England manager Sven Goran Eriksson illustrated yesterday that he would not fall into the same trap as his World Cup predecessor Glenn Hoddle when he revealed that his squad, which could yet feature Kieron Dyer, will practise penalties ahead of the tournament.

England’s exits from Italia 90, Euro 96 and France 98 all came about during shoot-outs, yet Hoddle insisted during his reign that it was pointless preparing in advance for such an eventuality. Eriksson accepts that the same pressurised conditions cannot be replicated but will set up some practice sessions ahead of the tournament.

"We have discussed it a lot and we will practise penalties a lot," said Eriksson. "It’s very important. If you are lucky to progress in a World Cup, at some stage you will have one game finishing in a draw.

"It is very difficult to practise as it’s difficult to put the pressure on the players, so you have to try to do it in a special way. It’s not just about standing there and taking penalties. We will try to do it in another way."

Eriksson gave his squad a light work-out in their first training session at their pre-World Cup base in Dubai yesterday. While there was the encouraging sight of David Beckham running again, Robbie Fowler and Sol Campbell missed the session as a precaution due to light knocks.

They are due to be involved again soon, as will Dyer, who was last night summoned to rejoin the training camp in a last-ditch bid to recover from a knee injury, sustained on the last day of the season.

The winger had been told he needed a "miracle" in order to make the tournament after being injured in Newcastle’s match against Southampton last weekend, but he is said to have made substantial progress over the past few days.

Eriksson, who has already lost Gary Neville and Steven Gerrard through injury, will make a final decision on Dyer’s fitness either tomorrow or on Saturday after speaking with Newcastle. But it seems likely West Ham’s Trevor Sinclair and Liverpool’s Danny Murphy will be confirmed as squad members when the official list is handed into FIFA on 21 May.

"This is very positive news," said Eriksson of Dyer’s injury. "He will be coming out to join us and we will see what happens then. It seems that he can start running tomorrow and it’s important that in the next few days, our medical staff get the chance to assess him in detail and see if he can prove his fitness."