England face uphill fight in battle to reach World Cup finals

It will be as clear underdogs that England step into the second leg of their Women's World Cup qualifying play-off final against France in St-Etienne this afternoon.

Trailing 1-0 from the first leg and with a far from full-strength line-up, Hope Powell's team faces what the coach herself describes as "an uphill battle" to reach next year's finals in China.

Already without England's finest player, the US-based striker Kelly Smith, and the key midfielder Katie Chapman of Fulham, Powell has this week lost the services of the Arsenal central defender Faye White through injury.

"It's difficult for us," Powell said, "but we're at that stage of the season where players are bound to get injured. It's an uphill battle because France are a good side, but we'll be giving it everything we've got and I think we can do it."

England have lost to France in each of their last four meetings, while the venue for this afternoon's fixture also bodes ill for the visitors. It was at the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium that Glenn Hoddle's England went out of the 1998 World Cup in a penalty shoot-out against Argentina, despite Michael Owen's memorable goal earlier in the game.

Powell and her team are not contemplating defeat, but know that failure to reach China 2003 will leave them with an empty fixture calendar – having learned this week that England is to host the Women's 2005 European Championships finals, they would face the prospect of more than two and a half years without a competitive match.

ENGLAND (probable): P Cope (Charlton Athletic); R McArthur (Fulham), C Stoney (Charlton A), M Phillip (Fulham), R Unitt (Fulham); K Moore (Fulham), S Britton (Leeds United), F Williams (Charlton A), R Yankey (Fulham); K Walker (Doncaster Belles), A Barr (Charlton A).