STRIKER Peter Crouch has revealed the determination in the England squad to achieve the perfect ten, by winning all of their World Cup qualification games.
Fabio Capello's side brought down the curtain on a memorable season by overpowering Andorra 6-0 at Wembley to maintain their 100 per cent record in their group with a seventh successive victory.
That means they are on the brink of making sure of
their place in the 2010 finals in South Africa. But Crouch insists the winning mentality installed by Capello means England will not take their foot off the pedal in the final three games against Croatia, Ukraine and Belarus.
The Portsmouth forward said: "The lads can be proud with what we have achieved this season. Seven wins out of seven and 26 goals are great statistics. We have got a winning mentality and I think the manager has brought that in.
"We look like a strong side. We would like to go unbeaten in the group and hopefully maintain our 100 per cent record.
"Are we thinking of South Africa? A little bit maybe but I don't think the manager will let us get too carried away.
"We have got a break now and can look back on the season, and know we have done well, and then come back fresh next year and hopefully do the same sort of thing again."
Crouch admits he took on board words of advice from Capello about playing regularly for his club when making the switch from Liverpool to Portsmouth. He is not Capello's first choice striker but has done all he can to stay in the thoughts of the Italian by netting in his only two starts under him against Ukraine and Andorra in the last two home qualifiers.
And Crouch has great respect for the former Real Madrid manager. He said: "Obviously at Liverpool we played more high profile games in the Champions League. I'd get half the number of games I'd played this year but they were quite often big games.
"But I think I've made the right choice this year going to Portsmouth as I've played every Premier League game and I've enjoyed my football.
"I had to make that big decision in order to play every week and the England manager did tell me he would prefer me to be playing all the time."
"I'm pleased to have scored a couple of goals and to start against Ukraine and Andorra. I am quite pleased with the end to the season.
"The goal against the Ukraine felt like a vital breakthrough and hopefully I have given the manager something to think about. But throughout all my England career, if called upon, I've done well."
Crouch added: "If we don't perform, he (Capello) lets us know. But when we do, he doesn't need to say too much because that's what he expects. Every time you go out there, he expects you to perform."
Capello now heads off to South Africa 12 months before his side will face their ultimate test, partly to do some scouting at the Confederations Cup but probably also to assess potential bases for England, which will almost certainly not provide suitable accommodation for the WAGs, who were such a feature of the ill-fated 2006 campaign under Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Of course' similar platitudes were offered about the Swede, especially during the early years of his reign, before it became apparent that the quarter-finals were the limit of his England's ambitions.
Yet it truly does appear Capello has masterminded a reversal in fortune for a continually underachieving group of players.
Removal of the fear factor, both of Wembley and wearing those famous Three Lions on the chest, has been an obvious element. "The fear is going," he said. "It has not gone yet but it is going."
Asked to cite the moment when he knew his work was paying dividends and Capello immediately comes up with that momentous night in Zagreb, when Theo Walcott scored a hat-trick to stun Croatia.
"That game was very important," he said. "We played with confidence and the result gave us even more."
Capello confident Rooney can keep on improvingFABIO Capello is adamant there is more to come from Wayne Rooney.
England's star striker has enjoyed a superb season on the international stage and grabbed another two goals against Andorra on Wednesday night to shoot to the top of the World Cup goalscoring charts. In addition, Rooney also matched Gary Lineker's record of ten goals in an England season.
The 23-year-old's outstanding form has given rise to an optimistic groundswell of opinion over England's chances in South Africa next year should they collect the single win from their three remaining games required to take them to the World Cup finals.
With Cristiano Ronaldo headed for Real Madrid, Sir Alex Ferguson is now as reliant on Rooney as Capello. But the Italian is confident the former Everton forward can deliver.
"Wayne is young and he can improve," said Capello. "I accept it is more a case of going upwards a little bit from 90 per cent rather than 70 per cent but he can improve three or four per cent and that is very important.
"I have been very happy with Wayne. This season he has done very well. He is in a fantastic moment right now and I hope he is the same next year."
Between them, Rooney and Steven Gerrard will carry England's hopes on their shoulders next summer. The pair have been major factors in the team's seven-match winning streak and it was in recognition of those efforts that Capello opted to take them off at half-time against Andorra. Given replacement Jermain Defoe scored twice and fellow striker Peter Crouch profited from some abysmal Andorran defending, the move almost certainly cost Rooney his first international hat-trick.
However, while he may be notoriously reluctant to take a break, Rooney has been urged to see the bigger picture.
"Wayne didn't say anything when I took him off," countered Capello when it was suggested the Merseysider might not have been too impressed."There are no big egos in this group. That is the spirit we have."
Simon Stone 