Gerrard: 'Players must take some blame'

Steven Gerrard believes he and his team-mates must accept criticism for England's Euro 2008 qualification struggles.Boss Steve McClaren has come under fire in the wake of his men's 2-1 defeat in Russia last month which has taken qualification for next summer's European Championship finals out of their own hands.England need either final Group E opponents Croatia to lose their last two qualifiers or Russia to drop points in either Israel or Andorra if they are to not miss out on their first major finals since USA 94.McClaren's men must beat Croatia at Wembley a week on Wednesday and Gerrard told reporters: "He's the England manager and I am sure he knew when he took the job that he would get pats on the back when we won games and there would be criticism when we never."But it's important that the players take a fair share of the criticism as well you know."We are the players that cross the white line and put in the performances and you know, we have been very inconsistent over the campaign, so we need to take a lot of the criticism as well"Despite England's Euro 2008 destiny being taken out of their own hands, Gerrard is calling on the team to focus on the task of beating Croatia in their final Group E qualifier.The Liverpool skipper added: "It's frustrating and disappointing not to have it in our hands, but it is important that we stay focussed, remain positive."You know we look forward rather than backwards. We are obviously relying on Israel to do us a massive favour. If they do so, we have got to be ready to make the most of the game against Croatia"© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

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ITN | November 12, 2007

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