NO REDS BIAS - ERIKSSON

A number of Gerard Houllier's stars are included in the 26-man squad but Eriksson insists he will not be pressured into favouring them for his starting eleven, merely because the fixture is at their home ground.

"I am sure it is a special stadium, the home of Liverpool," said Eriksson. "It smells of the history of football.

"But I will not be favouring the Liverpool players. Absolutely not. You cannot pick a team in that way.

"A ground is a ground and the supporters are not only coming from Liverpool but all over England.  At least I hope so."

David Beckham retains the captain's armband, and the England coach is pleased that the midfielder has been rested recently by Sir Alex Ferguson.

"I am pleased that Beckham has been rested," he added. "Of course I am.

"I think it is important for him, but it is up to Ferguson. If he needed rest, I am very happy.

"I do not think he has been below par. He did well against Spain and I am sure he will do well on Saturday.

"He will still be captain. I see no reason to change it."

There has been a lot of talk that Steven Gerrard will only play against Finland, and not Albania, due to the injury concerns that have forced him out of eight of the last ten internationals. Yet Eriksson is hopeful the Liverpool ace will be fit.

"I saw him play on Wednesday, he seemed very fit, extremely fit, I should say," he commented. "I know that he is returning from injury and has some problems.

"He will be in late tomorrow. I agreed with him and his manager. It is a special case and he will miss the first practice but I think he will be fit.

"I hope so. I know that it might be a problem him playing in both games. He gets very stiff and maybe needs more time to recover than other players so we will take a decision later.

"There is no deal with Gerard Houllier." 

As regards the decision to leave out some of the men who were included for the Spain friendly, Eriksson was diplomatic, saying: "It is always difficult and the worse thing for a manager to leave people out.

"Of course, I know we left out Michael Ball, Gareth Southgate, Ray Parlour and Kevin Phillips. They were close, all of them, but you must make a choice and it is always difficult. You never know if it is the right choice.

"I know it was a friendly against Spain but we are going to work like we did and not change very much, just the squad and some players.

"The work will be pretty much the same. It is very serious. If we do not get good results in the two games, the World Cup will be harder to reach, and further away.

"Of course, it is much better to have a whole week with the players. We can do more practice and get to know each other better.

"I have not decided on the team yet and we shall see what happens in practice."

David Seaman remains a doubt in goal, and Eriksson realises the threat that the Finns will pose come Saturday afternoon.

"I talked to the physio and David," he stated. "He has a back problem but we decided to pick him anyhow and we will see.

"I don't know if he will be fit but I think we are coverered, as we have four goalkeepers.

"Finland have 7-8 players playing in England. They are physically strong and tactically very good so I have a lot of respect for their team.

"They have improved a lot over the past 5-10 years, like Norway."

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