Gerrard says England must deliver

England v Russia
Wembley Stadium
Wednesday, 12 September
Kick-off: 2000 BST
Live coverage on BBC One, BBC Radio 5live & the BBC Sport website

England midfielder Steven Gerrard has called for the national side to end its recent record of under-achievement.

"This is the best England squad I have been involved in since I started with England in 2000," said Gerrard, ahead of the Group E game with Russia.

"The most important thing is for the players to do the talking on the pitch.

"We have under-achieved of late and we need to deliver. With the quality we've got, I don't think the quarter-finals is enough. We should be doing better."

England have not got past the last eight in any competition since the semi-finals of Euro 96, which was staged in England.

They reached the quarter-finals of three successive tournaments under previous coach Sven-Goran Eriksson -- the 2002 World Cup, Euro 2004 and the World Cup in 2006.

Before that they went out in the second round of the 1998 World Cup and failed to get past the group stage at Euro 2000.

The only major honour England have won is the 1966 World Cup.

England beat Israel 3-0 with an encouraging performance in Saturday's Group E game, but Gerrard predicted Russia would provide a stiffer test for Steve McClaren's side.

"There is no point in me sitting here saying that is the turning point and we are going to play great in the future.

"We've got to go out and prove that but Saturday was certainly a positive performance.

"The game against Russia on Wednesday is going to be a lot more difficult, we understand that, but we have the players to do very well."

With both Frank Lampard and Owen Hargreaves ruled out of Wednesday's game with thigh injuries, Gerrard is likely to partnered in midfield by Gareth Barry.

The two midfielders linked superbly against Israel on Saturday.

"I'm not sure whether everybody knows what good friends we are off the pitch," Gerrard told BBC Sport.

"The communication was there, we weren't strangers and that was the key to the partnership working."

Croatia top the group with 20 points from eight matches followed by Russia on 18. England are level on 17 points with Israel who have played one game more.

Source: BBC Sport