Tony Backs Trev

Tony Gale is backing Trevor Sinclair not to be overawed by the Brazilians when he takes them on.

"I think that Trevor could be one of our key players, as I see the flanks as the way in; when you are playing against the sweeper system with a 4-4-2 you can gang up on them two on one," he says.

"So it will be Trevor and Ashley Cole on one side, Danny Mills and Beckham on the other.

"Hopefully it will be Trevor that shines, and he has shown no nerves yet so I can't see him having any now.

"It is so far so good - but we don't want to go on about him too much in case he has a nightmare or something!

"But he has flown the flag for the club really well."

Although Trevor is up against opposition he has not played against before - either collectively or as individuals - Tony says it is not a problem for him.

"If you don't know the Brazilian team you are really struggling," he says.

"Mind you, when we had Matthew Rush at West Ham I said to him 'Rushie, you will be picking up Ian Rush at corners' and he said 'which one is Ian Rush?'

"So we had to say 'he is the one with the number nine on.'

"But I think Trevor will be a bit more familiar with the Brazilians!

"With Cafu going forward on his side it means that Trevor can get some joy against him.

"It will be great if Joe gets on as he will be really keen to show off his skills, but I can't see it happening unless things are going drastically wrong - or maybe if they are going right and he takes off a striker to put him on as a midfield player.

"It is going to be really tight but I am just hoping for a good game and I am going for us."

Tony warmed up for the match by looking at a re-run of the last time England met Brazil and he says:

"I watched the 1970 game and it was brilliant."