England hope for big leap

England have a five-point advantage over both Ukraine and second-place Croatia. Their improved play under Capello has raised hopes of a first international trophy since their 1966 World Cup win despite a humbling 2-0 loss to Spain in a friendly last month. Wayne Rooney scored twice against the Slovaks on Saturday and praised the Italian coach for lifting a team who failed to qualify for last years European Championship.

Since the manager came in,the routine has changed and the team started playing a lot better football, the Manchester United striker said.

Rooney will become the youngest player to reach 50 England appearances when he lines up against Ukraine at Wembley. But he is more interested in helping the team capture another title. I still get shivers down my spine when I play for England. It is every players aim to win a trophy for your country, he said.

The feisty Rooney has made headlines recently after a red card for some petulant behaviour in Man Uniteds 2-0 loss to Fulham and reports that he lost his temper with Red Devils manager Alex Ferguson after the team lost 4-1 at home to Liverpool. Now Capello hopes that he keeps his cool against Ukraine.

I do get frustrated at times but aggression has always been part of my game, he said. The desire to win makes me the player I am. I will never get used to losing.

Striker shortage

Capello does have a problem in attack,however,as Emile Heskey,Carlton Cole and Peter Crouch were all injured in the game against Slovakia. Of those,only Crouch will be fit to face Ukraine.

Darren Bent,who was called up as backup,withdrew on Tuesday. Rio Ferdinand trained on Tuesday and hopes to shake off a back injury to play alongside John Terry in central defence against a Ukraine side which is expected to have Andriy Shevchenko partnering Hertha Berlin striker Andriy Voronin in attack.

After an unsuccessful stint at Chelsea,Shevchenko is back at AC Milan but still struggling to find his goal-scoring form and playing time.

The national team gives me an opportunity to do what I love doing,which is to play football, he said. I dont regret anything. I needed to refresh myself physically and thats what Ive done at Milan.

With two victories and a draw,Ukraine arrive at Wembley unbeaten and confident they can end Englands perfect start to the World Cup campaign. This is a big game for us, Shevchenko said. We know that England are one of the strong teams and we hope to be able to do something good at Wembley. We have a young group that can grow.