England v Poland: Now that England have advanced to the World Cup finals Sven-Goran Eriksson is adamant he is going nowhere. "The only way I would leave the job is on the basis of results," said the manager. "I am too stubborn to quit because of criticism." He declared, too, that he is "as secure as I have always felt since signing for England".

The idea of a graceful transition, with Eriksson forgoing the last two years of his contract and departing after a respectable showing next summer, has been exposed as a delusion. Nor has he explicitly guaranteed he will stand down if England disappoint in Germany. So much for the idea that a native son will replace him in 2006.

If that is to happen there would be some hard and, for the FA, expensive negotiations with a man collecting an annual salary of around £4.5 million. Eriksson himself has not given up hope that the public will learn to appreciate him once more.

Saturday's 1-0 win over Austria did ensure that England would proceed to the World Cup, but the only way of encountering a feelgood factor in Manchester that night would have been to gatecrash the team's hotel.

"The atmosphere was excellent at dinner," Eriksson reported and David Beckham, despite being suspended from tonight's qualifier with Poland, was enthusiastic enough to remain with the squad and train yesterday.

The upbeat mood will have to be dispersed more widely. Eriksson does try to argue the critics into a deeper appreciation of the side. "Famous teams, extremely good teams, may have to go into the play-offs," he pointed out, thinking of France and Spain. His command of international events, however, was brought into question when he went on to state wrongly that the European champions Greece have been eliminated.

It is a little worrying that Eriksson's view of the football scene can be so hazy, but his reputation will always be tied to England's performances and a dashing display in tonight's qualifier at Old Trafford would recover some goodwill. In practice, it may not be possible to be light-hearted from the start.

Despite the fact that both sides have clinched places in Germany next summer it is believed that under Fifa's expected system, England will only be one of the eight seeds if they win this evening and against Argentina on November 12th.

Eriksson's side are far along the approach road to the World Cup finals. The Swede can only find dates for four more friendlies. Even then the final two will be in May, when the manager will not field his strongest line-up because it "is important that everyone gets some minutes". At the moment Chris Kirkland, one of the back-up goalkeepers, has still to make a debut.

That matter will be addressed but it is too late for radical changes. In any case he never had any wish to reconstruct the side. "It is a better team than it was in Portugal or Japan and at (Euro 2004) we went out for almost nothing," he said, referring to England's penalty shoot-out exit.

There are, all the same, some matters to be reviewed. In the absence of the injured Steven Gerrard, Ledley King is expected to play as the holding midfielder: Eriksson does want the capacity to switch between a flat four in midfield and the diamond formation as the nature of the opposition dictates.

King, mostly viewed as a centre-back, might not crave the midfield job but Eriksson, so far disinclined to call up Newcastle United's Scott Parker and foiled on this occasion by an injury to Bayern Munich's Owen Hargreaves, truly does have an opening there.

Shaun Wright-Phillips, who will almost certainly play instead of Beckham, may be particularly keen to be busy. He has to expunge the memory of his showing in the defeat to Northern Ireland.

The manager also has something to prove. "I always want to entertain," said Eriksson. It would be a relief if England succeeded in doing so tonight.

ENGLAND (possible; 4-4-2): Robinson; Young, Ferdinand, Terry, Carragher; Wright-Phillips, King, Lampard, J Cole; Rooney, Owen.

Referee: KM Nielsen (Denmark).

Guardian Service

Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez has identified Keith Gillespie's return to form as a major bonus for the team. The 30-year-old Sheffield United winger heads into this evening's qualifier against Austria in Vienna re-invigorated. Northern Ireland currently trail Austria by three points but will clinch third place in Group Six if they win.

John Toshack believes the end of Wales' barren run was met with more relief from the older players in his squad than the youngsters. The Wales boss, preparing for the final World Cup Group Six qualifier in Cardiff against Azerbaijan, also said the team spirit is giving him greater confidence for the difficult months ahead.