Gerrard: Turk it away lads

STEVEN GERRARD is calling on England to produce ‘another Istanbul’ with a big-match performance in Moscow tomorrow.
Midfielder Gerro was part of the England team that got a battling 0-0 draw on a white-hot evening in Turkey to clinch qualification for Euro 2004.
And he reckons there is that same determination in the camp this time round to go out and get the job done against the Russians.
The Liverpool skipper, 27, said: “I don’t know if you can say this is the type of game that can define your career. But it is certainly one that if we get the result we want we can look back on it with a bit of pride.
“I look back on the win over Germany, the draw in Turkey, games like that and they are big nights for big players and leaders to step forward — and that’s what we are going to need again.
“There are parallels with this game and Istanbul. I can remember that the atmosphere in the dressing room before that game was tremendous.
“You looked around and you knew you could trust the player next to you.
“The atmosphere in Turkey was intimidating — but we played as a team and I’m sure it’ll be the same in Russia.
“We gave everything we had and came through. The feeling now is similar.
“That is why we are getting better results. We have been through bad times, been there for each other and we are stronger because of it.”
Gerrard, who had another big night in Istanbul when Liverpool won the Champions League in 2005, wants boss Steve McClaren to get the plaudits for the Three Lions’ Euro 2008 resurgence.
England have now won five successive qualifiers 3-0 and Gerro said: “The manager and his staff deserve a lot of credit.
“When we got stick, they stood by us and told us we’d come through.”

The Sun