Discipline not an issue: Eriksson

England 1 Austria 1

England have had a far from unblemished record in their qualifying group which culminated in skipper David Beckham being red-carded in Saturday's 1-0 win over Austria at Old Trafford.

Beckham could consider himself unlucky on this occasion after being given his marching orders by Spanish referee Luis Medina Cantalejo.

He became the first England player to be sent off twice, following his infamous dismissal against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup after kicking out at Diego Simeone.

Being ruled out of Wednesday's home clash with Poland is now less significant given England have made sure of their place in the 2006 finals with a match to spare.

But England's disciplinary record in the group has been far from perfect and a question mark always hangs over the temperament of Wayne Rooney - an explosive player in both his playing style and temper.

Rooney was forced to miss the Austrian game through suspension after his histrionics against Northern Ireland in Belfast last month and his strike partner Michael Owen had also served a one-match ban.

Beckham suffered the same punishment earlier in the group and in total he collected five yellow cards in eight qualifying matches.

But Eriksson claimed: "Is there a risk of discipline problems at the World Cup? No, I don't think so. Not at all. We do not have to worry about that.

"What happened on Saturday with David Beckham was nothing to do with discipline. Both of his yellow cards were harsh and when sitting on the bench I was thinking 'what was that for?'."

Beckham was adjudged to have fouled Andreas Ibertsberger twice in a couple of minutes - the first an aerial challenge and the second a tackle on the edge of the England area.

The Real Madrid star clearly felt Ibertsberger had overreacted on both occasions and made it clear when he offered a handshake it was not a conciliatory gesture.

Beckham said: "I thought he had made a big deal of both situations but that's football. What did I say to him? It wasn't 'thank you mate!'

"I think both bookings were harsh. For the first one I've gone up for the header and the player seemed to make a little bit of a deal of it. But then I saw the referee's face and unfortunately in Spain you have to jump with your arms by your side and you are not allowed to tackle with your foot above your knee - and all three officials were Spanish.

"For the second yellow card I've actually pulled out of the tackle and he has gone over. The referee unfortunately didn't see that. It's disappointing because you try to show football in the right light.

"I was disappointed to get the yellow card because I knew I was out of the next game. But most players will say they would react in that sort of way for the second yellow card. You try and get the ball back and make a challenge.

"The most important thing is we got the win and we're on our way to the finals."