Gerrard backs England to get the better of 'genius' Suarez

Peter Jenson, dpa 

England captain Steven Gerrard believes the key to beating Uruguay in Sao Paulo on Thursday will be the team's ability to defend against the "genius" of Luis Suarez.

The Liverpool midfielder faces his club team-mate in the must win second game of Group D and both he and England manager Roy Hodgson praised the attacking ability of the Uruguayan striker who is expected to start tomorrow's game after missing the team's opening defeat to Costa Rica.

"Suarez is a genius. I have said many times before what a wonderful player he is but they have other good players and we have a plan in place to stop Uruguay as a team. The key will be whoever defends the best, because both sides are so good going forward," Gerrard said.

The sentiments were echoed by Hodgson who added: "They have two top class forwards in Suarez and Edinson Cavani plus Diego Forlan. Cristian Rodriguez supports well from midfield so they are a real attacking force.

"Uruguay will have all their big guns blazing and we will have to defend well against that. It doesn't matter what defence you have when you come up against a Suarez or a Daniel Sturridge then it is difficult for defenders."

It is no secret that both Uruguay and England have defensive weaknesses.

Oscar Tabarez' team will be without veteran centre-back Diego Lugano who has a knee injury but many supporters believe it could be a blessing in disuguise after he struggled against the pace of Costa Rica.

Gerrard is hopeful England's attack can cause Uruguay similar problems. Asked about Raheem Sterling who was the star of their defeat to Italy he said: "He's growing with every game. I am sure he will be around at this level for a long time.

"I don't want to put added pressure on him but it is clear that he has skill and fantastic pace and my prediction is that he will win many caps for England.

England coach Hodgson confirmed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is not in contention for a starting berth because he has only just recovered from injury and that means Wayne Rooney is expected to start on the left again for England despite calls from some supporters for him to be left out.

"Rooney ran more than any other England player which was not picked up by the critics watching on television," said Hodgson.

"He, like Gerrard and Frank Lampard who both have 100 caps, know that they have extra pressure on them because of their experience and he accepts that."

This game was always going to be one of the ties of the tournament but with both former World Champions losing their first match the clash is now one that neither side can afford to lose.

"We've got the first game out of our system. We can't change what happened against Italy. We can only control this next match," Gerrard said.

Gerrard was asked whether, after so many years at the top, he prepares for big games by switching off and watching a movie. He said: "It's difficult not to think about a game this big.

"I will have the Ipad out looking at the opponents and thinking about I'm going to play and how we are going to play as a team."