Sven seeks words to unearth a Cole goal

Eriksson seems set to retain faith in Cole tomorrow night, despite the Manchester United forward's failure to break his goal drought after 12 caps.

Question marks have been raised over his place in the team in Tirana, while ex-England coaches Terry Venables, Glenn Hoddle and Kevin Keegan never seemed completely convinced about him.

There are examples in the past, such as Ian Wright and Clive Allen, of prolific top-flight goalscorers who have failed to complete the transformation to England level.

However, just as he did with Hernan Crespo at Lazio when the £37m record signing initially struggled to find the net, Eriksson seems set to bolster Cole's confidence by refusing to drop him.

The England coaching team's belief is that Cole's first England goal will ''come sooner or later,'' revealed the Swede's right-hand man, Tord Grip.

Eriksson is leaving nothing to chance and is planning to take time out with the striker to ensure that his mind is focused on the task ahead rather than worrying about the squandered chances of the past.

Grip added: ''You can have some talks. There is a lot of psychology that can help. Sven will talk with him at some point before the game if he hasn't done so already.

''It's important for a player to feel confident and to feel secure. The staff can always help any player.''

The enforced absence of Steven Gerrard through a recurrence of his back problems is certainly a blow.

However, his expected replacement in central midfield by Nicky Butt could yet hold the key to Cole's fortunes in Tirana.

The striker would then find himself playing ahead of a midfield including not only Steve McManaman but also a United trio of Butt, Paul Scholes and David Beckham.

Knowing where to expect through-balls to come from and therefore being able to make the right runs are just the sort of advantages he needs.

''That might be good as they know each other well and have played together for several years. That can help you,'' added Grip.

''The ideal, of course, is to have all the players for the national team from the same club, like they had at Dynamo Kiev at one time.''

So while there might be several other forward options, such as Teddy Sheringham, Robbie Fowler or Emile Heskey, Grip adopts the attitude that ''Andy Cole will be OK.''

That echoes Eriksson's declaration after the 2-1 win against Finland that he is ''happy with the way Andy Cole is playing'' and will ''never make things harder for him with criticism,'' but will ''always encourage him''.

Not words that indicate Cole is set to be replaced, even if his failure to score compares badly with the records of Sheringham (first England goal after eight caps), Heskey (seven), Fowler (six), Owen (four) and Scholes (two).

Eriksson would certainly seem to be a believer in bolstering confidence, not destroying it, as he showed with Crespo, even if the striker's true form only returned when the Swede had left Lazio.

''When he came to Lazio, he was injured after the first match so he was out for a while and that was the main problem,'' explained Grip, who was also Eriksson's assistant in Rome.

''But when he was fit again, Sven gave him games. In Italy, there is no reserve league so you can't put a player into the reserve side.

''So it is important to try to put him in the team even if he is not scoring, at the beginning at least.''

England flew into Albania with no fresh injury worries following the withdrawal of Gerrard.

''We knew it would be a problem for him to play two games in four days,'' admitted Grip.

''But there are other good players in that position. Nicky Butt is used to playing there and played well in the first-half against Spain.

''He is strong and he has done very well this season. There is also a younger player like Michael Carrick who is playing well in that role. So we have several options.''

Eriksson has made it clear he does not plan any major tactical changes for away games. ''It is only small details. You're not going to play three attackers at home and one away. It's going to be more or less the same organisation but it depends who you're playing against,'' he said.

l Gary Neville has claimed the time is right ''to move the old guard on'' after accusing the England squad of becoming ''stale'' and having a ''cynical attitude''.

Neville pulled no punches when insisting it had been right for the likes of long-established stalwarts like former skippers Alan Shearer and Tony Adams to quit the international stage.

The Manchester United defender felt that the players still involved from the successful Euro 96 team had ''run out of steam'' and that it was time to freshen up the squad.

Neville is adamant that Kevin Keegan, in the dying embers of his reign, plus caretaker coach Peter Taylor were right to bring in new blood from the ultra successful Under-21 side. He claims players have been held back in the past two years from making the step up to senior level and now the benefits of their promotion were being seen.

Neville said: ''Although you don't like to see players of the stature of Alan Shearer, Tony Adams and Stuart Pearce retiring, there comes a time when you've got to say 'let's move forward.'

''The time for that came after Kevin Keegan's departure and the squad has been refreshed since Peter Taylor was named as caretaker manager.

''It needed to happen and there was a case when the Euro 96 squad, as good as it was, had seen the bulk of it run out of steam. It had gone a bit stale. There is a better atmosphere in the squad in the sense that young players have no fear. There's never a cynical attitude from a young player.'