EURO 2012: SWEDEN V ENGLAND

  • Venue: Olympic Stadium, Kiev
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  • Date: Friday, 15 June
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  • Kick-off: 19:45 BST
Coverage: BBC One, BBC Radio 5 live, highlights on BBC One and BBC Sport website
Captain Steven Gerrard believes England will show more ambition against Sweden as they look to move nearer to the Euro 2012 quarter-finals.
Roy Hodgson's side started with a 1-1 draw against France on Monday and face the Swedes in Kiev on Friday.
Gerrard, 32, said: "With all respect to Sweden, who are a good, strong team, they're not France so we can be more bold and ambitious and get at them.
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“I'm confident and really happy with the start we've made. We've got solid and good platform to build on.”
Steven Gerrard
"If we perform to the the same level we're confident of victory."
Hodgson was "proud" of his side's battling opening to their campaign in Donetsk, but Gerrard believes that the true value of the point earned against France will be shown if England can secure three more points against the Swedes.
The Liverpool man added: "I'm confident and really happy with the start we've made. We've got solid and good platform to build on.

Stubborn Swedes (competitive matches against England)

19 October 1988 - England 0 Sweden 0 (World Cup qualifier).
6 September 1989 - Sweden 0 England 0 (World Cup qualifier).
17 June 1992 - Sweden 2 England 1 (European Championships).
5 Sept 1998 - Sweden 2 England 1 (European Championship qualifier).
5 Jun 1999 - England 0 Sweden 0 (European Championship qualifier).
2 June 2002 - England 1 Sweden 1 (World Cup).
20 June 2006 - Sweden 2 England 2 (World Cup).
"The boys are confident we can get four points after this next game and that will be a good start to the group."
Gerrard is also sure that England will be ready to deal with the threat of Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored in their opening 2-1 defeat by Ukraine.
"He's world-class, on his day very dangerous so we need the same level of commitment defensively to stop him because if we give him time and space can hurt any team," said Gerrard.
"We're going to be well prepared but he's not the only good player they have. They get dangerous crosses into the box a big side so there are a lot more threats than him but he is a world-class talent."
Meanwhile, Hodgson has dismissed any suggestion that his team were too cautious against France.
And, compared to their tournament opener, the England coach expects his team to have more possession in positions where they can hurt the Swedes.
"I think we always show ambition so I don't think we lacked ambition in the last game," said Hodgson.
"Every game and every team poses a different threat so I'm hoping that we'll have more of the ball in the important areas and pose a lot of questions for the Swedish defence.
"We've got make certain that when we win the ball back and break out that the last pass is very clinical because it's hard to get good chances at this level. That's something we've been working on consistently."