Kieron Dyer has delivered an optimistic assessment of England's opening draw against Sweden - and declared that Sven-Goran Eriksson's men can topple World Cup favourites Argentina on Friday.

Dyer believes that England can overcome their slow start to the tournament, which saw them fortunate to escape with a 1-1 draw after a below-par second-half performance against Sweden on Sunday.

Only two superb saves from veteran keeper David Seaman prevented England from slipping to defeat after Sol Campbell's opening goal - his first for his country - had been cancelled out by Niclas Alexandersson's second-half effort.

But Dyer, who made his comeback from a knee injury as a substitute in Saitama, said: ''A lot of teams in the past have gone on to do well after starting quite slowly in the World Cup.

''Now this time around the reigning champions France have lost a game - and I certainly don't think they will be pressing any panic buttons!

''In the first game teams tend to feel their way into the competition and that was the case with us especially with the heat and the humidity.

"You just can't afford to lose otherwise you are facing an uphill task.

''Now we've done that and, after seeing Argentina against Nigeria, they certainly didn't set the world alight while in the first half our performance against Sweden was of a very high standard.

''I am sure if we can repeat the way we played in the first 45 minutes, then we will have every chance of a positive result.''

Dyer admitted the hot conditions may have been a reason for the way England ran out of steam in the second 45 minutes.

He said: ''It was very humid and even in the warm-ups before the game, you were getting a real sweat on.

''Maybe that was a telling factor because when players get tired, you drop off as a team and that is what happened.

''But we can't use that as an excuse and the training and preparation was perfect going into the game.''

Dyer insisted: ''We can't really think of it as being two points lost against Sweden because at the end we were hanging on a bit.

''We've just got to take the positives from the first half because I thought we were very dominant and the only team likely to win the game during that period.