Andy Sinton: England cannot rest until job is done

AFC Telford boss Andy Sinton's talks Euro 2012 and discusses England's chances of reaching the quarter-finals:

I fully expect England to come through tonight's game against Ukraine and reach the quarter-finals – but that doesn't mean they should underestimate them.

Under normal circumstances I think it would be a straightforward task for Roy Hodgson's side against Ukraine. However, the co-hosts of Euro 2012 on their own soil are a much more difficult prospect.

They might be ranked 52nd in the world with a passionate and intimidating home crowd will be a source of inspiration for their players. I said before the tournament started that I expected England to at least get to the quarter-finals and I still believe that will be the case ahead of the final group game.

A lot of the hard work was done with a great comeback victory against Sweden, but we can't allow any complacency to creep in because Ukraine will be bang up for it.

I have this nagging feeling that Shevchenko – if he plays – might pop up with a goal on the night as he did against Sweden in their opening game.

He might be 35 now but he's shown that he still has that goalscorers touch and, if you were writing script for the match, you would have him down to get on the scoresheet in what is likely to be his international swansong.

There were some doubts about him in the Premier League during his time with Chelsea and we probably never saw the best of him in English football, so he might feel he has a little point to prove to a few people.

What is clear from the Sweden game is that we need to tighten things up at the back, because we looked a little bit suspect against Sweden. I see that John Terry has come in for a lot of criticism and, certainly, his performance looked a little bit shaky.

Roy made a big decision to go for Terry ahead of Rio Ferdinand, so I expect him to stick by his man for the rest of the tournament and he will need to keep a close eye on Shevchenko.

We can't go out all guns blazing against Ukraine and I'm sure Roy will call for a calm and measured approach to the game rather than being cavalier.

But that doesn't mean we should be negative or sit back and invite Ukraine on to us, because I think that would be asking for trouble.

Fortunately, Roy seems to have got the right balance in the centre of midfield now which should help.

Steven Gerrard and Scott Parker have formed a pretty effective partnership in there from what I've seen.

Personally, I would still like to see Gerrard get forward a bit more and support some of England's attacking moves, because he is someone who can be a really influential presence in the final third.

One player who caught everyone's eye against Sweden was Theo Walcott, who looked really sharp coming off the bench to make a real impact on the game.

There might be a bit of a clamour for him to start to against Ukraine now, but I think Roy has him down as one of his go-to substitutes now.

Walcott's had his injury problems in the past, as well, so he might just be better suited to being a player that Roy can warp in cotton wool and then turn to when he is looking for someone to change a game rather than automatic starter.

From the Premier League right down to non-league football, there are some players who are more effective coming off the bench to change a game and I believe that Walcott is one of those.

Obviously, it's hard to ignore the fact that Wayne Rooney is available again and I'm certain he will come back into the starting line-up after serving his suspension.

But the big debate will be who he replaces. I have got a sneaky suspicion that Andy Carroll will be the man to make way rather than Danny Welbeck because, like Walcott, the Liverpool striker is someone who can come off the bench and give you a different dimension in attack.

Of course, a lot of things need to be placed in perspective because Sweden – when it boils down to it – are a pretty ordinary international team compared to others.

I would put Ukraine in a similar bracket to the Swedes. We saw France take advantage of Ukraine's susceptibility to pace at the back and I would expect England to employ similar tactics.

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