Tuesday 11 November 2014 17:10, UK
England centre-back Gary Cahill hopes England can improve upon their impressive run of five consecutive clean sheets in their European Qualifier against Slovenia at Wembley on Saturday.
The last time England conceded was in the 2-1 defeat to Uruguay in their second match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
It’s now five clean sheets in a row for us starting from the third game of the World Cup so it’s obviously something that we are really proud of.
Roy Hodgson’s side will be aiming to make it six shut-outs in a row Chelsea defender Cahill thinks England have solved the problems which plagued them over the summer.
“It’s now five clean sheets in a row for us starting from the third game of the World Cup so it’s obviously something that we are really proud of, something we are pleased with, and something that we felt as a group we needed to tighten up on after the summer," he said.
“Leading up to the World Cup we did quite well but the crunch games were in the summer and we came under a little bit of criticism so it was important that we tightened that up. Now we want to build on the last five games."
And the former Bolton star insists credit for their impressive run without conceding must go to the entire team who have worked tirelessly to ensure England don’t leave themselves open defensively.
“I think everyone has bought into the way that we play,” he said. “We’ve obviously changed the shape slightly and I think that’s where it’s worked really well for us.
Everyone has bought into the way we play. We’ve obviously changed the shape slightly and I think that’s where it’s worked really well.
“It’s not just the back four and the goalkeeper. We’ve got players in front of us who work really hard as well which is also really important. No matter how you set up the team you need everyone to chip in defensively.
“We know that we’ve got creative players but when we lose the ball, as you saw in the last game, they try and win it back as quickly as possible. That’s great and I think that’s the way it’s been going. The whole team has chipped in and defended really well.”
Watch England take on Scotland from Celtic Park live on Sky Sports 5 from 7.30pm on Tuesday, November 18
