Beckham prepares for 'hardest game'

David Beckham has warned England to expect “one of the hardest games in the group” when they take on Macedonia in a vital Euro 2004 qualifier in Skopje this evening.

Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side dropped two precious points when they were held to a 2-2 draw by the Macedonians at St Mary’s last October.

A similar scenario would mean England probably having to win next month’s final qualifier in Turkey to obtain automatic qualification for the finals.

Beckham, who has recovered from the groin injury suffered when in action for Real Madrid on Tuesday, said: “It will be very tough. I think it will be one of the hardest games in the group actually.

“We saw what Macedonia can do in the last game we played against them. People say we underestimated them as a team although I say we never go into any game underestimating any team or any players.

“I think they are quietly confident that they can get a draw or a win. They were predicting a 2-1 win or a 1-1 draw earlier in the week.

“I am not going to predict any scores but we are confident that we can get the result that we need.”

England struggled to win 2-1 in Slovakia earlier in the group on a dreadful pitch and in a similar kind of environment.

But Beckham is adamant that England will be totally focused on the job in hand before heading back home to prepare for Wednesday’s game with Liechtenstein at Old Trafford.

He said: “The environment that we are in doesn’t change the way we feel about the football game. It doesn’t matter where you are or what environment you are staying in.

“This is actually a nice country. We show each country respect and we show each team respect wherever we are staying or whatever pitch we are playing on. It’s the same for the other team as well and we have to perform.”

Beckham is confident that England can overcome the absence of injured regulars such as Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand and he will warm to the responsibility of trying to guide England to success.

He said: “I think there is always responsibilities on players and my responsibility has not changed and that is to work hard and be the best captain I can.

“But the responsibility is not just on me for this game. People have said we’ve got a weakened side because of the players that are not playing.

“But I definitely don’t see it like that. We’ve got the players that can come in and do more than a job. We are confident these players can come in and do as well as the ones who usually play.”

The game will be another opportunity for Frank Lampard to stake his growing claim to become an England regular after impressing in recent games.

Beckham said: “The way Frank Lampard has been playing for Chelsea is the reason why he is here and why he is playing like he is today is because he is playing with a lot of great players there.

“He is learning a lot. He is still a young player but he is coming into the team and performing and playing well and impressing the manager.”