'We won't err on side of caution,' says Neville

England require only a draw against Croatia tomorrow tonight to progress to the Euro 2004 quarter-finals but defender Gary Neville has vowed his side will be gunning for victory.

The Manchester United right-back was a member of the England team dumped out of the European championships four years ago following a disastrous 3-2 defeat by Romania.

England needed a draw that day to book their spot in the knockout stages but conceded a late penalty to lose the match and Neville is determined to ensure history fails to repeat itself in Lisbon tomorrow.

“We won’t be playing for the draw – that’s not in our mentality. I remember what happened against Romania and I don’t want it to happen again. We have to go into the match determined to win,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek programme.

Neville is still smarting at England’s heartbreaking 2-1 defeat by France in their tournament opener last Sunday but revealed the opportunity to reach the quarter-finals has dulled the pain.

He continued: “It was a tough result against France but it wasn’t the hardest defeat I’ve had to bear because in tournament’s there is always an opportunity to recover.

“If that match had been in the quarters or semis it might have been different.

“We couldn’t have done much more to beat France.

“Sometimes after games you just have to smile and say ‘that’s football’.”

One of the stars against France was Wayne Rooney and the Everton striker surpassed that performance by firing a blistering two-goal salvo in the 3-0 triumph over Switzerland on Thursday night.

The 18-year-old is quickly becoming one of the hottest properties in the game and Neville admits he is enthralled by the ability of a player who Everton have priced at £45m (€68.5m).

The defender added: “For him to be at Euro 2004 at 18 is a miracle.

“His strength and the things he does in games, like nudging people off the ball who are twice his size, just adds to the skill we all knew he had.

“How do you put a value on him? He’s still a developing player. But forget about the money side of it, let’s enjoy watching him play.”