ANYONE who believed we would be the World Cup's whipping boys were sadly mis-taken after our great result against Sweden - and now England should watch out.

The only downside of our historic opening game was Avery John's sendingoff because with 11 players on the pitch we really believed that we could have gone on and caused a proper shock by winning it.

But nevertheless our 0-0 draw has put a different perspective on Group B and means we now go into the England game tomorrow full of confidence and feeling that there's no reason why we couldn't upset another big team.

Every T&T player went out and gave hugely committed performances - not least Shaka Hislop, who was simply outstanding.

To come in at the last moment as a replacement for the injured Kelvin Jack and do what he did to thwart the Swedish attack was magnificent and typified the focus and togetherness running through our squad.

Everyone on the night did their jobs 100%, which I felt gave us the edge over a team who are tipped to do well in this tournament.

We did not have any complaints over Avery's sending-off because we met up with a Fifa representative before the game who made it clear that such challenges would be punished.

It meant that my old Wrexham teammate Carlos Edwards had to come and play at the back and I thought he did a great job for us and is showing the world what a good player he really is.

As for my own performance, I was reasonably happy, but I know that I can learn from certain things and hopefully take them into the England game.

All in all, though, it was just brilliant for me to be up against players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrik Larsson because they're big players, playing for big clubs and earning a lot of money, which they thoroughly deserve.

So to pit my wits against them was a fantastic experience and can only help me develop further as a player.

To be representing my country in our first-ever World Cup finals is a massive honour and it was great when news filtered through on how Port of Spain was celebrating the result.

I can assure you that there was no par-tying within the camp, though, because after a good night's sleep all our focus immediately turned to England which, of course, is extra special with many of

us playing for British clubs.

Again we are going into this game with the belief that we can win it and are all ready to give 110% to the cause.

We have got a lot of respect for the English team and it was good to hear players like David Beckham and Owen Hargreaves last night pay the same respect to us.

I think they are approaching the game in the right frame of mind because they know they can qualify if they win, which means it should be another great game for the supporters.

There has been a lot of talk

about me going up against Peter Crouch and it's a challenge that I'm really looking forward to because he's a quality player who is doing really well at the moment.

I know that England have come under some criticism regarding their selection of strikers.

To be honest, though, that does not concern us one little bit because we have a plan and are prepared to deal with any combination Sven-Goran Eriksson will play - and that includes Wayne Rooney..

All three strikers - Crouch, Michael

Owen and Rooney - can more than do a job but, although we are respectful, we're not in awe of of their talents.

We feel we have got enough experience in our squad to handle them and we can't wait

Supporters have been superb

IT was fantastic to spot some Wrexham flags in the crowd when I was lining up for the Sweden game in Dortmund - and I hope that their adopted country did them proud!

It's wonderful to get so much support and I just hope we can keep the smile on their faces with another great result against England.

We have been given a warm welcome everywhere we have gone and the people of our adopted town, Rotenburg, have really taken us to their

hearts. The whole town has T&T flags flying and the kind locals have really made it a home from home. We are leaving for Nuremberg today with their best wishes, which really is touching for all the players.

It has been great, too, because our families have come out to Rotenburg and have been staying in a hotel about ten minutes away.

I've been away from my wife Gloria and little girl Celine for a long time because

I've been with the squad since the middle of May, so it was great to see them both on a rare day off.

It can be hard at times because, of course, I miss them, but we all know that this is the World Cup and the chance of a lifetime to play on the biggest stage the sport has to offer.

They know that I have to put all my focus into this tournament for the next few weeks and then I can be with them.