England skipper John Terry has challenged his team-mates to overcome their fear of failure on the international stage and show the confidence they exhibit in club football. The Chelsea defender will lead England out against Andorra at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona tonight, the scene where supporters turned on Steve McClaren when they last played there.
And Terry believes this fear has hampered England in the past and led to criticism from fans, but he is determined to win back the support of the country.
"There's a fear of failure, speaking honestly," he said. "It's been like that for the last couple of years now. It's not something you can put your finger on.
"I don"t think we"ll be able to go out there and completely change it overnight. At club level, the lads feel free and can express themselves.
"That's something the manager and myself are trying to bring out of the lads in the camp.
"As the game went on against Andorra last time, the booing got worse and it made us go into our shells even more.
"We need them behind us, whether it be 30 or 40 minutes at 0-0 - they need to stick with us.
"We'll hold our hands up to what we did wrong and we're coming into this campaign looking to prove ourselves, change things and qualify. That's the main thing."
The mood among fans remained hostile when England failed to reach Euro 2008, which skipper Terry believes has contributed to the negative vibes in the camp.
"When you come away with your country and look around the dressing room and see the players you"re going to be playing with, it should be the best thing," he explained.
"The confidence should be there. It should be the best thing. But, at the minute, things just aren't right."
The 27-year-old feels the Andorra game could be frustrating, with the team ranked 186th in the world expected to defend and make things difficult for Fabio Capello's men.
Terry added: "We'll learn from last time. In the build-up to last time, it was all about whether we'd win 4-0 or 5-0, whether it would be six or seven.
"We all expect us to win but we also know it's going to be difficult.
"They'll come out and try and make it very physical again for us, so we may need an early goal to knock them back a little bit and force them out, because they literally play with 10 men behind the ball.
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