England is in blisterning form under the new reign of Fabio Capello, having scored nine goals in the previous two outings. The team is firing almost on full cylinders, Wayne Rooney is back in top from and the England fans could be excused if they've got a bit of a hangover. Consistency, of course, is the name of the game and the splendid performances so far ,and all the points accumulated, will be will be useless should England be complacent on Wednesday in Belarus and drops points there.

Belarus are the next opponents in England’s quest to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and should prove to be a far sterner test than Kazakhstan, although England are expected to win this match nonetheless. At the time of writing, only Betfair had available odds for Belarus v England, with 9/1 on the home side, and an England win was priced at just 0.36/1. A 3-0 England win is priced at 6.2/1, the odds for a nervy 1-1 draw. If you fancy Belarus to snatch a victory, then you can grab odds of 12.5/1 on a 1-0 victory.

One of the driving forces for the Three Lions, Steven Gerrard, is certain to deliver the same sort of performance for the England shirt as he does for Liverpool, where his inspirational drive is nothing short of legendary.

Gerrard has admitted to BBC that, after having a long conversation with Capello, the underlined message was rather simple and transparent.

"He wants me to emulate my Liverpool form for England,” Gerrad said, according to the BBC. “He is prepared to help me. That is what I want. I do not want a manager to give up on me for club or country. I haven't always hit my Liverpool form for England but it's not through a lack of trying. I'm desperate to play well."

Gerrard admitted that since the start of the season he has not delivered his best for either Liverpool or England, and that he has been feeling insecure lately about his position in both teams. He is driven, of course, and determined to shine for both club and country.

"I have delivered for England but I need to make that more consistent," he added. “That's the next challenge for me, to try to stay in the starting eleven and perform as consistently for England as I do for Liverpool.”