England v Germany: Germany will find us a lot stronger – Gerrard

Two of world football’s great rivals meet at Wembley tonight in a friendly designed to celebrate the Football Association’s 150th anniversary.

For England, the renewal of Anglo-German combat will be a chance to banish the awful memories of June 29, 2010, when Fabio Capello’s side were left humiliated by a 4-1 defeat that brought a fitting end to what had been a desperate performance in South Africa.

Gerrard is one of three players expected to start tonight who played in Bloemfontein and he admits the experience was a chastening one.

However, the England captain, one of nine changes from the team beaten 2-0 by Chile last Friday, is adamant that the Three Lions will provide a much tougher opponent for the current German side.

“England against Germany is one of those fixtures,” said Gerrard, who after tonight will start to focus on this weekend’s Merseyside derby at Goodison Park. “You either come off the pitch on an unbelievable high or a terrible low.

“It is very similar to a derby game domestically, your Everton or your Manchester United games. When it comes to international (football), the biggest game for us, with the size of the local teams, is Germany.

“They are always physical encounters and even though it is a friendly it is a game all the players are desperate to win and bounce back from the Chile performance.”

Considering the abject manner of England’s collapse in the 2010 World Cup, Gerrard admits to being hit hard by the second-round loss.

Asked if the Three Lions have improved since then, the 33-year-old, who has undergone an injection in a troublesome hip problem to equal Bobby Moore’s record of 108 caps tonight, said: “I would say we are.

“The reason I say that is I feel that if we were to meet Germany (tonight) in a World Cup situation, I don’t think we would leave the pitch having been beaten 4-1.

“I do feel we are a lot stronger. There is a good mix of youth and experience in the squad at the moment. We are all moving forward and improving all the time.

“I look back to the Chile result and I come away from that game feeling different from a lot of people having read what I read.

“I’m really confident that if we were to meet Chile, further on into a World Cup competition, we would have the players at full strength to go and beat them.”

Counter-balancing the black day that was Bloemfontein for Gerrard, who will become the joint fourth-highest appearance maker for the national team tonight, is the 5-1 victory in 2001 that marked the clear highlight of Sven Goran Eriksson’s reign.

The Liverpool midfielder scored that night in Munich but, as with the 2010 loss in South Africa, he is yet to watch a recording of the game.

“I am not really a player who looks back,” he explained. “I always try to look to the future.

“What happened in 2001 and 2010, whenever it was, is not going to have any impact on the result (tonight). It is a different game. I think the Germany players have moved on as well.”

Gerrard will start in a midfield that will also feature Andros Townsend, Tom Cleverley and Adam Lallana, the latter one of only two from the starting XI against Chile to retain his place. Wayne Rooney is the other, the Manchester United striker set to link up with Daniel Sturridge despite the latter limping out of training yesterday morning.

At the back, Ashley Cole and Kyle Walker will return at full-back, either side of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones. Joe Hart, rested against Chile so manager Roy Hodgson could assess Fraser Forster, also comes back into the fold.

A feature of Friday’s 2-0 defeat, which saw England jeered off at the final whistle, was how easily Chile opened up the Three Lions’ defence.

Hodgson, however, insists that his side’s defence remains in decent shape as England look to claim a first win over a unified Germany on home soil since 1935.

The England manager said: “It was only four goals (we conceded) in 10 games (qualifying for the World Cup), which you would regard as a relatively good return. We do pride ourselves on our defending and I don’t honestly think that I have been in charge of England games where there have been a lot more goal chances than what Chile created.

“The game was educational, we learned a lot about ourselves and our opponents. I suppose when March comes around and May, I may be grateful for that type of knowledge. Sneaking a victory or getting away with something, maybe it might not have given me the same lessons I learned.”