Crozier emphasises 'absolute belief' in Sven

So that's it then. Scarcely a landmark on England's inter-national landscape until February, when Sven Goran Eriksson's chosen ones have a warm-up friendly scheduled ahead of their next batch of European qualifiers. Four months for the England coach to consider his options, as he diligently scours the Premiership for that elusive left-sided midfielder, or an alternative target man to Emile Heskey and Alan Smith. But no chance of examining them in more detail.

The England coach's desire to maintain cordial relations with the clubs has meant that continuity will have to be provided by two "get-togethers" of coaching staff and players, the first between 18 and 20 November, an international week in the football calendar. It will include a World Cup debriefing and practice sessions. It doesn't appear the ideal long-term preparation for the competitive games ahead, and there have even been suggestions that the clubs will not necessarily co-operate fully because of displeasure about the Football Association's £20m commercial contract, agreed with England's players. The deal commits the players to commercial and promotional work for the FA which, it is said, may conflict with their club responsibilities.

However, the FA chief exec-utive, Adam Crozier, insisted last night: "I can't imagine there will be any problems with the clubs. Far from it. We wrote to them all saying that there would be get-togethers instead of friendlies, and I understand they're fully in favour. They're probably relieved that their players aren't playing a game."

Eriksson said: "I think we need the get-together in November very much. After a bad result it's good to see the players and talk to them. And to practise." Other than that, the Swede is restricted to "concentrating, as always, to see if new, young and interesting players come through. I can't do much about the players in the next four months. I know my best XI if all the players are available."

It could be that the hiatus will be to England advantage. The last thing his men needed was to be confronted with Senol Gunes' World Cup semi-finalists, Turkey, who are already five points clear of England in Group Seven, albeit having played a game extra. By February, the disappointing exhibitions of last week's double-header and the Ulrika soap opera which threatened to dominate events on-field will be long forgotten.

Not that the FA will hear a word against their man. Crozier maintained: "In 13 competitive games, Sven's had one defeat – and that to the world champions. It's a terrific record. There is absolute belief within the FA, and among the players, that we really can achieve something. It's a young team and it's getting better. Sven's got the full support of the FA, the players and, we believe, the vast majority of the fans, too."

Meanwhile, Crozier emphasised that the FA would continue to act strongly on the issues of racism and hooliganism. Both were evident in Bratislava last Saturday, and an FA official attempted to link the two by suggesting that the Slovaks' racist abuse of Emile Heskey and Ashley Cole provoked the English fans.

The visiting contingent were confronted, with considerable force, by baton-wielding Slovak police and that has also led to accusations of overreaction by the host authorities. Criticism of that FA stance has been widespread, along with any suggestion that England are entitled to adopt a holier-than-thou attitude about either subject. Indeed, there were suggestions during the BBC's Question Time on Thursday night that racist abuse was still in evidence at English grounds.

"They [racist abuse and hooliganism] are two separate issues," said Crozier. "There was clearly a lot of concern about the racist chanting [in Slovakia]. Here, a lot of people have done a lot of work to improve the situation, but we shouldn't rest on our laurels. There is still a lot to be done."

He added: "We've never sat back and thought it was eradicated in this country. There are still pockets of it. But we are working hard to deal with it. We are also addressing the hooligan problem. What happened out there was very disappointing after Japan during the World Cup had been trouble-free."