LONDON - Wayne Rooney has admitted it would be 'a nightmare' if England failed to reach Euro 2008.
Steve McClaren's men may be without injured captain John Terry but it would still be a major surprise if they failed to overcome Estonia in Saturday's Group E qualifying clash at Wembley.
Victory would leave the team requiring only a draw in Russia next week and another in their final game against Croatia on November 21 to reach next summer's finals.
It is a far healthier position than England were in the last time Rooney played for his country, as they left the field to boos and jeers from their own fans after an unconvincing win over the part-timers of Andorra.
Yet the Manchester United striker always felt England would pull through in the end. And he accepts it would be devastating if they failed to take full advantage of all their hard work now.
"For England, if we didn't qualify it would be a nightmare," he said.
"As a player you want to play in all the big tournaments and around the time of the Andorra game we were under a lot of pressure.
"But I always believed we were going to qualify. We have two games coming up and we know if we can get maximum points from them we will almost be in the tournament."
With Emile Heskey missing, Rooney is a certainty to partner Michael Owen in attack, although it is at the back where McClaren has most to ponder.
Veteran Portsmouth defender Sol Campbell is the obvious candidate to replace Terry, whose knee injury was still so badly swollen yesterday it was impossible to get an accurate assessment of the extent of the problem.
Although McClaren has not given up hope of Terry making the journey to Moscow, it appears highly unlikely the Chelsea man will make it, with cartilage surgery an equally plausible alternative.
That places the focus firmly on Campbell's own patchy fitness record.
The 33-year-old - whose last competitive start for his country came against Austria two years ago - has already pulled out of two squads this season with groin and hamstring problems respectively and missed training on Tuesday with an Achilles strain.
Although he had recovered enough to play a full part in Wednesday's session, there must be some doubt over his ability to play back-to-back 90 minutes in a four-day period, something he has not managed for Pompey since January.
With Jamie Carragher retired, Wes Brown back at Manchester United nursing a knee injury and Jonathan Woodgate so out of form at Middlesbrough he did not even make the squad, McClaren's only other options are to introduce uncapped Everton defender Joleon Lescott or move Micah Richards, who is ear-marked for the right-back slot, into a central position and bring in Phil Neville to fill the gap created by the switch.
Not that England expect their defence to be tested too much against an Estonian side who would appear to offer Rooney the perfect opportunity to break a competitive scoring drought for his country which dates back to Euro 2004.
"My England career started well but it hasn't really been on track for the last year or two," he said.
"I have been frustrated with my form but it is not through lack of effort. I have given 110% every time I have played but for some reason it just has not happened.
"It just makes me more determined to put it right and start scoring again."
