Under-fire England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson is confient his players are still fully behind him despite their World Cup qualifying defeat to Northern Ireland.
The Swede also hinted that he will abandon the controversial tactics which led to the 1-0 defeat in Belfast and a scrappy 1-0 win over Wales in another qualifier earlier this month.
Asked if he had lost the support of his players, Eriksson told the Evening Standard: “There is no chance.
“Of course, if you lose to Northern Ireland and play as badly as we did, everything is wrong – the players and the tactics.
“To say that because of that 90 minutes I have lost the power in the dressing room, (that) the feeling between me and the players is lost, there is no chance.”
Eriksson hinted he will revert to the usual 4-4-2 lineup next month after two games with 4-5-1.
England need wins in both their remaining games against Austria and Poland to qualify automatically for next year’s finals.
“We played 4-5-1 in Belfast partly because some of the players were not 100 percent. It’s all history now,” he said.
“I’ve not abandoned the single striker. We can play that way. I thought it was necessary against Ireland.
“But I prefer 4-4-2 and so do the players. I’ve played that way with every team I’ve coached.”
