Soccer: Motivation will be no problem - Beckham

David Beckham insists Manchester United's England contingent will have no problem raising themselves out of the comfort zone in the build-up to next month's World Cup qualifier in Greece.

It will have been six weeks since the United players last took part in a competitive game which really mattered by the time of the crucial game in Athens on June 6.

However skipper Beckham maintains they are used to lifting themselves for big games.

And he believes that tomorrow night's friendly against Mexico at Pride Park will provide the perfect wake-up call.

Having won the title race so early, back on April 18, the England captain admitted: "t was hard to get up for games after that as you automatically switch off to a certain extent.

"But you have to lift yourself for these games as you know how big they are and we're used to doing that at United."

And Beckham believes Liverpool's superb season could work in England's favour.

"When teams have done well in the season, like Liverpool and Leeds, who have done brilliantly as well, it's great for us as players to come here with more confidence," he said.

"Of course, we'd love to have won three trophies like Liverpool but we set our sights on winning the Premiership and we did it.

"I'm sure every player would love to have been preparing for the Champions League final this week, but that's the way it's gone."

The prospect of captaining England into a World Cup campaign is a measure of considerable pride to Beckham though.

"It's a great time to be England captain," he said. "Everyone talks about the new era, the new manager and new young players coming in. I'm enjoying it so much that it's unbelievable.

"It would be nice to go to a World Cup and win something, but you can't allow yourself to think we're definitely going there yet.

"We've got seven points, which is a lot better than it was before the last two games, and we're a lot more confident.

"But we can't get carried away, even for this friendly. We have to go out, play well and carry it on before the big game in Greece."