Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson is counting on skipper David Beckham and fellow midfielder Nicky Butt to pilot England to victory in Wednesday's final group clash with Nigeria.

Beckham scored the winner against Argentina from the penalty spot and completed all 90 minutes in Friday's 1-0 win, having managed only 63 in their 1-1 draw with Sweden after a seven-week injury break.

For Eriksson, Beckham's determination to secure victory, after being red-carded against Argentina at the 1998 finals, underlined once again the mental strength of the England captain.

"What happened four years ago happened to England, but it happened very much to Beckham," Eriksson told reporters at England's Awaji Island base.

"So, of course, for him it was a huge victory and... I'm happy for him. He showed once again that he's a very good captain, mentally very strong."

Beckham's Manchester United team-mate Butt was outstanding in Sapporo, despite playing in his first game after a knee injury suffered at the end of the last premier league season.

A replacement for first-choice Steven Gerrard, who was ruled out of the finals by injury, Butt managed to deliver the kind of performance that had Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson purring last season.

Successful in his job of breaking up Argentina's manoeuvre in midfield, the 27-year-old's creative passing included the through-ball for Michael Owen's first-half shot against the post.

"I must say I was surprised by the performance of Nicky Butt, positively surprised," Eriksson said.

"He played extremely well and you couldn't see that he's been away for seven or eight weeks.

"He's a very important player for us. He always takes up good positions and wins a lot of balls in midfield."

A draw against Nigeria in their final Group F game in Osaka on Wednesday would be enough to see England through to the second round of the finals.

If they succeed in that task, favourites Argentina would need to beat Sweden in the other game - which is kicking off at the same time - to avoid being dumped out of the tournament along with Nigeria.