Terry ruled out for French test

Hamstring problem
Eriksson said that although the Chelsea FC player trained "a little bit" with the squad today and did some fitness work it would be "dangerous" to risk him. Terry has been receiving treatment all week on a hamstring problem. "We all know how well John has played for Chelsea this season but that's life and football and hopefully he'll be OK for the second game."

Difficult decision
The coach has decided on a replacement but declined to say who it would be. "It is a difficult decision because both Jamie Carragher and Ledley King have been in good shape and have done very well for us in the practice sessions," he said.

Fitness better
Eriksson believes his England team are stronger than two years ago when they reached the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals before losing to Brazil. "We are still a young team but we have a lot of experienced players," he said. "Our fitness levels are much better than two years ago when we had a lot of problems with [David] Beckham and [Kieron] Dyer, Steven Gerrard was out and Gary Neville was out."

'Confidence is high'
Eriksson said he only had to remind his players of how they had peformed in recent seasons to convince them they could beat the French. "The confidence in the squad is very high and I don't need to tell them that we can beat France if we have a good day, they know that.

Good opportunity
"If you take the last three years in all competitive games we have done well, with the exception of the second half against Brazil. We should be better than we were in the last World Cup and maybe we will be even better in two years' time. So this is a good opportunity to show this is a great football nation."

Bonus
Having a fit Gerrard available to him was a big bonus - "he is one of the best midfielders you can find in the world today" - while Wayne Rooney was primed to make a big impact over the next three weeks. "He's becoming better and better," said Eriksson. "When he joined us he was not 100 per cent fit but every day he's getting better. He's not nervous and is looking forward to this game very much."

Close at hand
For the coach himself there is delight that the first game is now so close at hand. "I have been waiting for this for almost two years. The job we have, we like it when the big tournaments start and I hope to stay in Portugal as long as possible."