SVEN WAS DISPLEASED AND REALLY LET US KNOW

IT WASN'T long after I joined up with the rest of the England lads at our hotel in Hertfordshire that it suddenly dawned on me.

With David James missing from the squad, I'm suddenly very much the senior member of the goalkeeping club - at the venerable age of 25!

The two other 'keepers in the squad, Robert Green and Chris Kirkland, only have a cap between them so I suppose you could say I have more responsibility now.

If I can help them over the next week then I will be glad to do so but they should know that I have the England jersey at the moment and I aim to keep it.

A good season with Tottenham can only help. Being part of a successful team can only be beneficial for me.

Some people have said that I am more secure in the number one spot now that David isn't in the squad. I don't see it that way.

Things don't happen that way in football - especially as a goalkeeper.

To a certain extent you are only as good as your last game and I know I need to be performing consistently well this season, both for club and country, to ensure I stay in this England team.

As for David, he will have had his reasons for coming out after the Denmark game and admitting he hadn't prepared his usual way.

As a fellow professional you have to respect that. I had no idea he was going to say what he did. It was news to me and I haven't spoken to him about it since. It's his business.

He will undoubtedly feel disappointed that he has been left out for these two matches but I am sure he will not believe the international door is closed.

He will get his head down and concentrate on playing well for Manchester City. If he does that, he will

surely believe there is a chance for him to be recalled in the future.

I missed most of the second half drama in Copenhagen. I had come off at halftime as planned and by the time I had showered and made my way to the bench, we had conceded three goals.

The all-round second half performance from the team wasn't nearly good enough and Sven made a point after the match of saying we would have a meeting about it when he joined up for the Wales game.

True to his word, Sven didn't waste any time and the meeting was convened yesterday.

We all had our say and the coach made his points firmly and forcibly.

Sven's not a shouter or a bawler but you don't need to be at this level.

Let's just say though that no-one was under any illusions as to how displeased he was.

Since that match much has been written and said, including that the players were more concerned about not going back to their clubs carrying an injury.

That's just not true. Whenever you play for England, you play with pride.

You do your best for your country and it's an honour to do so.

That should always be the case and I am sure it is for all the players in this England squad.

We were all bitterly disappointed with the performance against Denmark Alan Walter

but it was a blip, nothing more

than that. We've had our meeting, put it to bed now and we're ready for the challenge against Wales and Northern Ireland.

I know they've been looking forward to this game for a long time in Wales and we're anticipating a real cup final atmosphere in the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

What are we expecting from the Welsh team? Perhaps the kind of match we thought we'd have in the home leg last season.

We were all looking forward to a real tough battle against them back then but it didn't happen that way.

We won 2-0 and although it wasn't easy, it wasn't as tough as we were expecting.

We're under no illusions this time

though. Everyone wants to beat England but especially the other home nations.

It's obviously a blow that John Terry won't be lining up alongside Rio Ferdinand.

We've all been thinking how well off we are for central defenders, what with JT, Rio, Sol Campbell, Ledley King, Jamie Carragher and Jonathan Woodgate but all of a sudden they're a bit thin on the ground.

With all the injuries though, It's a good thing we've got that strength in depth and I am sure Rio and Jamie or even Zat Knight, who has been called in to the squad, will do a great job.

Up front Michael Owen, now of Newcastle, will be missing through suspension and that leaves Jermain Defoe as favourite to come in.

Jermain said he was a bit disappointed to come off at halftime against Denmark but he's always disappointed if he doesn't score.

Whoever plays against Wales though, we know the importance of this game and the one next week against Northern Ireland.

We're not home and dry quite yet but two good results in these two matches and we're well on the way to Germany.

We know what's at stake here and what we need to do to.

I know the Welsh were disappointed with their performance against us in the first match. They will want to put that right.

We've done well in this World Cup campaign so far. We're not planning to slip up now.

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