ROB Jones believes England can win the World Cup - with or without Wayne Rooney.

The ex-England right-back, who hails from Ellesmere Port, believes Sven-Goran Eriksson's men deserve their place among the favourites for the tournament, which kicks-off in Germany this week.

Football fans from the Port will be glued to their television screens when England take on Paraguay in their Group B opener on Saturday - and Jones is anticipating a comfortable victory.

The former Liverpool star, who has signed for the Pioneer as our expert World Cup pundit, said: 'We have such a strong pool of players that I think we have to be among the top four or five teams to win it, with or without Wayne Rooney.

'Obviously we would be much stronger if Wayne was fully fit and when I first heard about his injury I thought our chances had gone.

'But even if his scan doesn't go to plan today we can't ignore the impact made by Peter Crouch in his absence.

'Crouch is the top man at the moment and with his confidence sky-high and Owen keeping fit I feel our chances have improved again.'

Rooney's recovery from a broken metatarsal has dominated the national news for weeks and he is expected to be available for the knockout stages of the tournament - providing England get there.

According to Jones, there is nothing for Beckham and Co to fear in their group games against Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden.

'There has been a lot of media hype surrounding our hopes and there is a real expectation throughout the country, a feeling I believe is

justified,' said the former Whitby High School pupil.

'When you look through our team it has quality in every department and so you would be really disappointed if we didn't make it into the quarter-finals at the very least.

'It is also poignant that it is Sven's last tournament as England boss and he will want to sign off in style.'

Jones, who now runs a successful nursery business, believes England will approach Saturday's opener with Paraguay in confident mood, following impressive victories over Hungary and Jamaica.

Although he expects the South Americans to try to negate Eriksson's men, he is predicting an England win.

He said: 'Paraguay will be well drilled and will be desperate not to lose their first match. But I think we will be too good for them and I think we will get off to a flyer with a 2-0 win.' nDo not miss Rob Jones' exclusive World Cup column, starting in next week's Pioneer.