Don't try to be Argentina

We'll do it the European way, says Eriksson, as he faces flak over England's style

Expect an improvement on England's opening two performances at the World Cup, but not the sort of patient, passing football that brought Argentina the most golden of their six goals against Serbia & Montenegro on Friday.

That was the message from the training camp here in southern Germany yesterday as the squad put the dismal efforts against Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago behind them and began to concentrate on the final group game against Sweden on Tuesday.

The head coach, Sven Goran Eriksson, also revealed that either Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard, the two midfielders with a yellow card to their name, is likely to be left out to minimise the possibility of suspension, allowing Michael Carrick or Owen Hargreaves a chance. Peter Crouch is in the same position, but could keep his place as neither Wayne Rooney nor Michael Owen is yet fully match-fit.

Jamie Carragher will again deputise for Gary Neville, who expects to be fit for the knockout stage, but there are no concerns over the left-back Ashley Cole, who was reported to be suffering a recurrence of hamstring trouble.

A win or draw on Tuesday would mean England topping the group and meeting the runners-up of Group A - either Ecuador or Germany - in Stuttgart next Sunday; losing would mean meeting the winners of that section in Munich a day earlier. Had the group already been won, Eriksson would have rested most of the team, and certainly the trio who are one yellow card away from suspension. "We have to play one of them at least," Eriksson said of Lampard and Gerrard, who have again been the object of speculation about whether they can play together.

Rooney is certain to play some part and Theo Walcott could well be blooded towards the end, especially if the game is going well. "He looks fine," Eriksson said of Rooney, whose introduction transformed the mood as well as the fortunes of the Trinidad & Tobago game. "There were no reactions after the match. His words to me were 'I'm ready to play 90 minutes today'. If I wanted him to start I could start him. Even if he starts you don't need to play him for 90 minutes, maybe for one hour or something like that. Of course I would like to start him but I will ask opinions from doctors and physios. If he's going to start the game people must convince me that he can play one hour. If he can only play 45 minutes, then it's better to bring him on in the second half."

Owen's position is more problematic. Without a competitive goal since the middle of December, he has been pulled off after less than an hour in both matches so far. "I'm not firing on all cylinders but I'm not disappointed with the way I'm playing," he said. Most other observers are including, crucially, Eriksson. One Swedish newspaper described bringing on Rooney for Owen against Trinidad & Tobago as "replacing a scooter with a Harley Davidson". The feeling now is that England's need is for some of that va-va-voom.

Criticism of the opening two performances does not appear to have diminished Eriksson's belief in his team's ability to win the competition. "I'm not worried about what other people are saying about England. Against Sweden it will be a completely different game compared to Paraguay or Trinidad. Nothing has changed. I've always said we are one of four or five teams who can do it. We have six points, clean sheets. I'm not worried at all. I know we can play better. Every player knows that."

Not, however, in the sort of style with which Argentina destroyed Serbia & Montenegro, scoring one of the great World Cup goals after 24 passes. "That's not totally our way in Europe," Eriksson said. "It's very much South American football. Brazil and Argentina are the best in the world at keeping the ball."

Gerrard has said it was "not important" that he was omitted from the Queen's birthday honours list despite an outstanding past year's work for Liverpool which included winning the Champions' League. Lampard, meanwhile, expressed his distaste for former England internationals who take money for criticising the team. "You certainly won't see me doing that in 20 or 30 years, so shoot me if you do see me slagging off an England performance," he said.

Sweden's striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic "will probably not play" according to the team doctor. He injured a groin in the warm-up before last Thursday's game against Paraguay and should probably not have started, but made it worse by staying on the pitch until half-time.

It will be Eriksson's fourth match against his native country, with two 1-1 draws and a 1-0 defeat so far. Another 1-1 result would guarantee Sweden a place in the second round, though they would prefer to win if it meant facing Ecuador rather than the host nation.