Eriksson: I have complete trust in my players

SVEN-Goran Eriksson claims the trust in his players is unbroken after he absolved Rio Ferdinand and John Terry of any blame after a late-night incident involving the duo and hotel maintenance staff in La Manga.

Ferdinand and Terry were reported to have been playing pool in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in the Spanish resort at about 3.30am when an alleged dispute took place with two members of the hotel staff.

But Eriksson and the Football Association have played down the incident and the England coach is adamant the general standard of behaviour demonstrated by his players is "no different" to that in the rest of Europe.

And he revealed that he prefers players to apply common-sense in terms of their behaviour rather than laying down hard and fast rules.

Eriksson said: "In life you are supposed to use commonsense. Commonsense is a lot of rules. When we left La Manga the players, wives, girlfriends, children were very happy and so was I.

"I spoke to the hotel management before we left and they were very happy. There were no problems at all.

"I can't see any problem. I think they behaved very well. Again I say, I talked to the players and the hotel management and there were no problems. The players behaved very well.

"I also think the way my players behave is no different to players in Italy, Portugal, Sweden, wherever.

"In all the time we have been together since I came into this job more than two years ago, I have not had reason to complain over their attitude to the game and what they do in their spare time."

England spent last week in La Manga as part of their preparations for the European Championship qualifier with Slovakia at The Riverside Stadium on June 11.

They will take on Serbia and Montenegro in a final warm-up match at Leicester City's Walkers Stadium tomorrow.

Ferdinand attended the Monaco Grand Prix yesterday and he took the opportunity to play down the alleged hotel incident in a television interview by claiming: "the stories have been over-fabricated".

Football Association spokesman Adrian Bevington took the same stance and said: "We are aware of a minor misunderstanding which took place in our private area of the team hotel at La Manga.

"However we strongly refute any suggestion of any kind of brawl involving any kind of player.

"Having spoken to the hotel management, we are fully satisfied that there is no case to answer and, as far as the FA and the hotel are concerned, there is nothing further to discuss."

On the theme of behaviour, Eriksson again urged that players and fans alike adopt the right approach during tomorrow's friendly. England have the threat of possible expulsion from Euro 2004 by UEFA hanging over their heads after the behaviour of their supporters before, during and after the qualifier with Turkey at The Stadium Of Light in April.

Eriksson said: "If we were to be thrown out of Euro 2004, then it would be a catastrophe. It is therefore very important that we behave on the pitch and also that our supporters behave.

"It would be incredible if we were not able to play in Europe."