SVEN Goran Eriksson last night hailed the current England squad as "the best" he had ever managed, but warned a goal-hungry North-East public not to expect a World Cup walkover against unfancied Azerbaijan.
The England boss has been keen to dampen down expectations ahead of this evening's qualifier at St James' Park, despite last weekend's impressive 4-0 win over Northern Ireland.
That game saw Joe Cole finally announce his arrival amongst the international elite and, with the likes of Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney also enjoying purple patches, hopes are high ahead of this evening's encounter.
Eriksson is desperate to prevent an air of complacency hindering his side's chances but, after watching Saturday's second-half demolition of England's local rivals, he is having to acknowledge the quality at his disposal.
And, while he maintains his previous sides were unlucky to crash out of major tournaments following narrow quarter-final defeats to Brazil and Portugal, the Swede has admitted that England's current crop are better than anything he has been able to call on before.
"I think this squad is the best I have had since I came to this country," said Eriksson, who will name an unchanged side as he looks to defend his record of never having lost a qualifying game for either a World Cup or European Championships.
"It is a confident squad, a team that can keep the ball much better than we have done in the past. That's one of our goals. We want to be as technically good as the best in the world.
"In the past, we have gone out against teams which are technically very good. Brazil are probably the most technical team there is. That's one of the reasons I was very happy with Saturday.
"The players know they can handle the situation and keep the ball and I would like them to continue playing the kind of football they played last weekend.
"That has made them confident and the confidence I feel walking around the place is fantastic. I have never seen as confident a squad in the last four years and I think they would love to be playing in the World Cup this summer instead of having to wait."
That confidence should not be shattered by an Azerbaijan side who conceded eight goals to Poland last weekend, and whose last competitive win came against Serbia and Montenegro almost two years ago.
The paucity of Azerbaijan's performance in Warsaw has led to inevitable predictions of a massacre tonight but, while Eriksson is confident of taking all three points, he has insisted that he will not be setting goalscoring targets.
Goal difference could yet prove crucial - England are just one point ahead of Poland and the two sides will meet at Old Trafford in the final game of the group - so a narrow win could leave Eriksson's side vulnerable if they were to slip up at a later stage.
But, rather than urging his players to shoot on sight, the former Lazio boss will be telling them to remember how hard they had to fight for a 1-0 win in the Azerbaijani capital Baku last October.
"I haven't liked a lot of what I have been reading this week," complained Eriksson. "Because talking about how many goals we should score in the next match always brings bad luck.
"I don't think, as a manager or a coach, that you can tell your players 'Go out and score five or eight, or whatever it is'. Football is not like that.
"Azerbaijan drew against Wales at home and drew against Northern Ireland. They lost against us, but it was not an easy game for us. They only lost 2-0 in Austria and I thought they did rather well there.
"I saw their game on Saturday and I thought it was an unreal game. Everything Poland did went well for them - every time the ball came into the box they scored - and everything went wrong for Azerbaijan.
"I don't think Azerbaijan are as bad as that result shows, and I don't think Poland are as good. It was one of those games where everything went well for one team and everything went bad for the other."
Nevertheless, a near capacity crowd will be expecting more entertaining fare than England served up in their previous home game before Saturday, a dour goalless draw with Holland.
Some of last weekend's football was as eye-catching as anything produced during Eriksson's reign, but the level-headed Scandinavian is refusing to succumb to the allure of adventure.
"There has been a lot of talk about 'entertainment'," he said. "But I do not think that is a word that football players or managers use.
"I don't think you can put entertainment on one hand and winning on the other. If you don't play good football, or try to play good football, you will not win many matches.
"Winning all the time and not entertaining is not possible. I think the two things are very close to each other. Every manager in the world is trying to attack well, trying to defend well, and trying to win football games.
"I don't know any manager who tells the players 'Go out and entertain'. That's not football. To say 'Forget the result and just go out and entertain', it is not possible."
Eriksson will resist the urge to tinker with his side tonight, ensuring Michael Owen will be given the chance to equal Gary Lineker's record of 22 competitive goals in an England shirt.
"Michael is always the man for the big matches," said the Swede. "People have been talking about him and saying that he has not been playing that much for Real Madrid.
"But, for England, he has been absolutely perfect in the last few matches. He has been scoring goals and he has been very lively.
"There are many good strikers in the world, but I am very happy with how Owen and (Wayne) Rooney are playing. Every time they play together, they get better and better."
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