Hodgson and Co face make-or-break fixture in the Olympic stadium.
England captain Steven Gerrard says that the Three Lions will play for a win when they take on Ukraine in their crucial Fifa World Cup Group H qualifier in Kiev on Tuesday night, according to reports in the Daily Mail.
Roy Hodgson’s men travel to the 70,000-capacity Olympic stadium in the Ukrainian capital as the current leaders of the group, albeit only on goal difference from surprise package Montenegro, while their hosts are themselves just a point behind in third place.
And so in theory, with now just three qualifiers left to play on the road to next summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil, a draw would be an excellent result for the visitors on Tuesday evening.
However, the 33-year-old does not see it that way, with Gerrard insisting that England will be aiming to claim all three points against Ukraine so as to keep automatic qualification for South America in their own hands.
“We are coming here to win the match,” Gerrard said in his pre-match press conference on Monday night on the eve of the much-anticipated fixture.
“If it ends up being a draw it’s a better result for us than Ukraine.
“The pressure lies on Ukraine to win the game and to take the game to us.”
England finish their qualification campaign with two home fixtures next month against group rivals Montenegro and fourth-placed Poland at Wembley Stadium.
“It will be our last crack at doing well at a World Cup and hopefully that will be infectious within the rest of the group,” said Gerrard, who made his England debut against Ukraine 13 years ago.
“We hope the rest of the lads can see how much we want it and they can feed off that.”