England wary of Kazakh comedown after Croatia high

England will do well to remember the last time they produced a spectacular away performance when they host Kazakhstan in a World Cup qualifer on Saturday.

When England thrashed Germany 5-1 in Munich in September, 2001 with Michael Owen bagging a hat-trick the nation sat back and expected Sven-Goran Eriksson's side to cruise into the finals in South Korea and Japan.

Instead, fans were forced to bite their fingernails through the next two qualifiers as first Albania provided stubborn resistance in a 2-0 defeat and a few weeks later David Beckham's last-gasp leveller against Greece clinched a spot in the finals.

The 4-1 victory against Croatia in Zagreb last month, with Theo Walcott this time the hat-trick hero, cast off the cloak of gloom lingering over England since their failure to qualify for Euro 2008 in an instant.

Producing a consistent level of performance has proved beyond most England managers, however, and Fabio Capello will be looking for a convincing victory against the unknown quantity from Central Asia to prove the upward curve is sustained.

The Wembley crowd will demand goals, which will put the onus on the likes of Wayne Rooney, Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch now that Owen is deemed surplus to requirements.

Emile Heskey, a veteran of that Munich victory, is likely to partner Rooney up front but of all the four genuine strikers in the squad only Crouch has an international scoring record to be truly proud of.

Capello is likely to recall Steven Gerrard to partner Frank Lampard in midfield after the Liverpool player missed the Croatia victory through injury, although there are still doubts about their suitability.

Skipper John Terry is a doubt after suffering a back injury in training yesterday and medical staff will continue to assess his fitness.

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand hopes the Croatia victory will put the sceptical England fans firmly behind the team and help make Wembley a feared venue for visiting teams.

"Fans do get a bit agitated if we don't score inside the first 20 minutes," Ferdinand said in the build-up to Saturday's match.

"I would just ask them to get behind us and sing their hearts out. If it is a real cauldron, like it is in Zagreb, that helps. No-one enjoys facing 90,000."

Kazakhstan, beaten by Croatia and Ukraine in their last two Group Six qualifiers after opening with a victory against Andorra, is the world's ninth largest country but in football terms are ranked down with the likes of Hong Kong.

German Bernd Storck has been put in temporary charge of the team after the sacking of Dutchman Arno Pijpers and despite their lowly ranking Pijpers believes Kazakhstan will not be easy meat for Capello's side.

"I don't know what they will do against England but they do have enough quality to perform well," he told the BBC.

Probable teams:

England: David James; Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Wes Brown; Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Theo Walcott, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney.

Kazakhstan: (from) Alexander Mokin; Samat Smakov, Kairat Nurdauletov, Alexandr Kuchma, Alexander Kirov; Ruslan Baltiyev, Talgat Sabalakov, Yuri Logvinenko, Vadim Borovsky, Sergei Skorykh, Ruslan Baltiyev, Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev, Sergei Ostapenko.