Sheridan won't be crowded out

Andrew Sheridan feels England must subdue the home fans at Murrayfield.

Andrew Sheridan insists England must overcome the Murrayfield crowd as well as the Scotland team if they are to keep their Grand Slam dreams alive.

Andy Robinson's side head to Edinburgh off the back of two wins in the Six Nations tournament over Wales and Italy.

However, this weekend's away trip is the toughest challenge the reigning world champions have faced so far, particularly if the home fans get behind their team like they did on the opening weekend when Scotland upset the odds with victory over France.

Sheridan knows that the England players can expect a hot reception when they step out onto the pitch, but the Sale forward is looking to use the atmosphere to his advantage on Saturday.

"Everyone knows the benefit of having a crowd behind you," he said.

"Scotland will have that but the important thing for us is to go away from home and win and not get caught up in the mentality of thinking we are not at Twickenham so we are going to struggle.

"You have to go away and play your normal game and not let the outside factors worry you.

"Whether you have a crowd really getting behind you or a crowd against you, either way you can draw something from it and feed off it to make use of that atmosphere."

Sheridan will come up against a familiar face on the field as fellow Sale Shark Jason White will be leading Scotland into action.

The flanker has been in excellent form for his country since taking over the captaincy and Sheridan knows that his club colleague will pose a threat to England's hopes of a third straight success in the tournament.

"He (White) is a reasonably quiet sort of individual but you look at the way he plays and the example he sets." he commented.

"He is very physical, a ball carrier, he pinches a lot of ball off the ground and he is also very good in defence."

Sheridan added: "He is a top class player."