Defoe demands full focus

Striker confident ahead of trip to Minsk

Last updated: 14th October 2008

Defoe Jermain

Defoe: Confident

Everyone is confident now. We don't want to get complacent and we just want to keep winning games.

Jermain Defoe
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Jermain Defoe admits England will travel to Belarus with an air of confidence but insists complacency will not be an issue.

Fabio Capello's team visit Minsk on Wednesday hoping to create history by becoming the first England side to begin a World Cup qualifying campaign with four successive wins.

With victories over Andorra and Croatia in September having been followed by Saturday's success against Kazakhstan at Wembley, Defoe confesses the England squad have a swagger in their step.

But the Portsmouth striker is adamant that he and his team-mates will offer Belarus full respect at the Dinamo stadium, and that they will not be getting carried away following a 100 per cent record under Capello in competitive fixtures.

"The lads are confident," said Defoe. "You can imagine after the Croatian game last month that everyone was buzzing. We want to keep it going and got another result at the weekend.

Patient

"We will be watching the videos on Belarus, so everyone in their minds will know exactly what they are good at and what they are not good at.

"No game at this level is easy. On Saturday we had to be patient - and once the first goal had gone in, we went on from there.

"We won't under-estimate them, but if we work hard and pass the ball like we can do we should get the three points.

"Everything is looking good - the way we are playing, the whole set-up, the whole preparation before games is fantastic - and we just want to keep it going.

"Everyone is confident now. We don't want to get complacent now and we just want to keep winning games."