ENGLAND's official theme song for Euro 2004 will be a reworking of The Farm's "Altogether Now" but, if Sven-Goran Eriksson had his way, The Beatles' "I'm So Tired" might have been the preferred choice.

Tiredness, it seems, is keeping the England boss awake at night.

After revealing his 23-man squad for next month's tournament in Portugal yesterday, Eriksson was grilled on whether he felt England were good enough to win their first piece of silverware since 1966.

"I think we will have a good chance if we can stay fit and fresh," said the Swede. But it didn't stop there.

"I hope they are fitter than they were during the World Cup," he added, before throwing in "if we are fit enough we are good enough" for good measure.

Rarely can a team's physical state have been questioned so often. England's players haven't even set foot on a training pitch yet, let alone taken part in any meaningful competition.

But, in the modern world of international football, tiredness is more dangerous than Thierry Henry, Michael Owen and Christian Vieri rolled into one. Or at least plenty of people think it is.

When England lost to ten-man Brazil in the quarter-finals of the last World Cup, Eriksson didn't put the defeat down to David Seaman's failure to deal with Ronaldinho's long-range free-kick or his side's absurdly negative tactics after the interval. No, they were tired.

Similarly, when reigning champions France crashed out at the group stage, manager Roger Lemerre didn't blame his misfiring strikeforce or his side's perceived lack of respect for opening opponents Senegal. His players were simply too tired to raise themselves for the biggest tournament in the world.

And both camps fear that the same thing could happen in Portugal this time around.

There is no doubt that England's players have just endured a long and demanding Premiership season. But, unlike the World Cup, so have each and every opponent they will come up against next month.

For starters, a good proportion of them are in exactly the same boat. The Premiership will have more representatives in Portugal than any other domestic league.

The backbone of the French side play their club football in England, while Sweden, Denmark and Holland all have a healthy smattering of English-based players.

Eriksson might have lost his much-publicised argument for a winter break but, if anything, the absence of a January shutdown could actually work in his favour this summer.

The Spanish league has such a break and, with the same number of clubs in La Liga as the Premiership, teams have been forced to play a glut of games in recent weeks as the end of the season has approached.

The failure of English sides in Europe has also handed Eriksson an unexpected boost that other national managers have not been able to enjoy.

Manchester United and Arsenal's early exits from the Champions League meant that John Terry was the only member of Eriksson's likely starting line-up to be involved in any European action after April 6.

Even skipper David Beckham was able to put his feet up after that date following Real Madrid's surprise exit at the hands of Monaco.

So, while England's physical fitness will undoubtedly be pushed to the limit next month, Eriksson's squad will be in no worse shape than any other international side.

There are a number of factors that could prevent England tasting glory in Portugal. David James' fallibility in goal, the absence of adequate cover at the back, and the lack of goals if Michael Owen fails to fire all give cause for concern.

But tiredness will not stop England winning Euro 2004. Let's hope that Eriksson is not trying to pretend that it has in a month and a half's time.