Terry and Jenas await the call

Road to Euro 2004: Eriksson warns of fatigue factor as England's dual mission is undermined by too many games

We are constantly told that there are no easy matches at international level these days. But there are varying grades of difficulty, represented by England's two European Championship qualifying matches over the next 11 days, for which Sven Goran Eriksson will name his squad this evening.

Liechtenstein stand 151st in Fifa's world rankings, and in the last World Cup qualifying competition were the only one of the 50 European countries not to score a single goal. Turkey, ranked seventh (one place above England) and third at the World Cup last summer, are a different kettle of kebabs, and it is just as well at this stage that the game against them on Wednesday week is on the banks of the Wear rather than the Bosporus. Winning it, having – presumably – taken three points in Vaduz, would enable England to overtake the Turks (who do not play at the weekend), in which case the lapse of a home draw against Macedonia will not seem so serious and Eriksson will regain some of the credit lost in that game and the ill-planned friendly against Australia last month.

"If we win both matches, I'll be very happy and will take a glass of champagne," he said. "But we have to concentrate on the first game and win that."

Anything other than victory in Liechtenstein is inconceivable, and quality of performance will be important not just in restoring faith in the head coach – whose honeymoon of five successive victories to begin the marriage now seems a long time ago – but in giving the players renewed self-belief ahead of Turkey's visit. He will therefore want to pick his strongest side on Saturday, rather than holding one or two players back for the second game.

The options available from the list of 23 revealed tonight may or may not be whittled away by withdrawals following this afternoon's programme, featuring Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool and Leeds, and then the inconvenient FA Cup replay between the holders and Chelsea two days later. Already, the Arsenal pair David Seaman and Sol Campbell seem likely to be missing, as well as their team-mate Ashley Cole, while Alan Smith of Leeds is suspended for the first game.

The goalkeepers and defenders in the squad therefore pick themselves, now that Eriksson and his assistant, Tord Grip, appear to have seen the light that has produced some dazzling performances recently by Chelsea's hitherto neglected John Terry. Wes Brown, according to Sir Alex Ferguson, is unlikely to feature after aggravating a hamstring injury in Manchester United's win over Fulham. It will be just Terry's luck to pick up an injury amid the mayhem of Tuesday's replay.

If Gareth Barry has still not had the same success in attracting the Swedes' attention, Charlton's Paul Konchesky will be one of the beneficiaries of the Australian shambles, in continuing as understudy at left-back to Wayne Bridge.

Eriksson has singled out Jermaine Jenas as the principal success of that otherwise unhappy night. The mobile Newcastle midfielder might even go straight into the side on Saturday, and there will be a horrible temptation to hand him the poisoned chalice on the left-hand side. Trevor Sinclair, one of five players tried there in the past five matches, may miss out, while Nicky Butt and Danny Murphy will be hoping that there are enough places in the squad to accommodate him.

And what of Joe Cole, now likely to be demoted to the Under-21 side? Left sitting among the substitutes against Australia on his home ground last month, as well as when the midfield cried out for some genuine invention against Brazil in the World Cup quarter-final, he might legitimately question precisely how much faith Eriksson has in him. For a player whose game depends on confidence, that is hardly desirable.

Now that Alan Shearer will not be applying after all for a return to national service – and what a curious little episode that was – the equation among the strikers is straightforward: Michael Owen, Emile Heskey and Darius Vassell can expect to be picked, with Smith and three debutants from the previous game – James Beattie, Francis Jeffers and Wayne Rooney – all hoping to join them. But Eriksson appears to feel that Rooney is not getting sufficient first-team football at the moment for another call. As the young white hope's manager, David Moyes, put it so bluntly on Friday: "If England are relying on a boy who has just turned 17, they've got problems."

Other banana skins that have lain in England's path down the years have normally been avoided (see panel below), though not always without the hint of an undignified slip. Often the conditions prove something of a leveller – the hosts would do well to provide as poor a playing surface as possible – and it is some time since any question of record scores arose. Just out of interest, the highest away from home in a competitive game remains the 9-0 romp in Luxembourg 43 years ago, threatened in 1984 by an 8-0 win in, er, Turkey. Oddly, each result was subsequently repeated at Wembley; but the improvement over the last few years by the Turks should be evident at the Stadium of Light next week.

As is always the case towards the end of a long domestic season, England's prospects will not be helped by fatigue and overplaying. Eriksson returned to that theme of his own volition yesterday in reiterating: "We play too many games. Italy have three teams left in the Champions' League, Spain have three and England have only one. But I don't think we're worse than Italy or Spain. If you talk to sports doctors, they'll tell you that it's not physically possible to play Valencia on Wednesday, Everton on Sunday and Chelsea on Tuesday, three games in six days."

Although repeatedly bringing up the subject with his masters, he appears to be losing the battle; something England cannot afford in the next two games.

Possible England squad: James (West Ham United), Robinson (Leeds United), Wright (Everton); G Neville (Manchester United), Mills (Leeds United), Ferdinand (Manchester United), Woodgate (Newcastle United), Southgate (Middlesbrough), Terry (Chelsea), Bridge (Southampton), Konchesky (Charlton Athletic); Beckham, Scholes, Butt (all Manchester United), Gerrard (Liverpool), Jenas, Dyer (both Newcastle United), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich); Owen, Heskey (both Liverpool), Vassell (Aston Villa), Smith (Leeds United), Jeffers (Arsenal).

Beware the banana skins

United States 1 England 0
June 1950, World Cup

Still the most embarrassing result in England's 797 senior international matches. A team containing Alf Ramsey, Billy Wright, Tom Finney and Wilf Mannion hit the woodwork five times but lost to a deflected goal by Larry Gaetjens from Haiti.

Malta 0 England 1
Feb 1971, Euro Championship

The pitch of flattened sand was the most serious problem in Valletta, where Sir Alf Ramsey was grateful for Martin Peters' goal after he had selected Martin Chivers and Joe Royle for the first time as his new heavyweight strike-force.

Cyprus 0 England 1
May 1975, Euro Championship

Another dodgy pitch meant a poor game. A month earlier Malcolm Macdonald had scored all five goals against the same opposition at Wembley, but England managed only an early header by Kevin Keegan (pictured).

Luxembourg 0, England 2
October 1977, World Cup

Needing a big win in Ron Greenwood's second match in charge, England did their goal-difference little good, Ray Kennedy not adding to Paul Mariner's strike until injury time. It was not enough, and Italy qualified instead.

San Marino 0, England 7
November 1993, World Cup

Falling behind to San Marino after nine seconds in Bologna was one of the many low points of Graham Taylor's international career. The result then became irrelevant as Holland reached the finals, and Taylor resigned.