Kevin Keegan has insisted that England will do everything in their power to close down Wembley stadium in the perfect fashion _ with victory over Germany in today's World Cup qualifier.

And he expressed confidence that he would not be the last manager to suffer defeat under the Twin Towers as he maintained that the team had "turned the corner" against France last month after their Euro 2000 demise.

Keegan's plans for the opening 2002 World Cup qualifier have been disrupted by the enforced withdrawal of Steve Gerrard from the starting line-up due to a thigh problem which surfaced in training yesterday.

The Liverpool midfielder, who has now missed out on starting in all but one of England's past eight games due to injury, will be replaced in central midfield by either Dennis Wise or Paul Ince.

However, his youthful exuberance and passing ability will surely be missed by a team which is set to take a step backwards from the split-striker system used against the French by reverting to a predictable 4-4-2 formation.

At least David Beckham, who missed training earlier this week with a knee injury, was said to be "fine", while the pace of Michael Owen and Andy Cole offers hope up front if they can be guaranteed any service.

But the England coach knows his side will have to make a huge improvement on what was, however welcome it may have been, an admittedly narrow win against an even worse German side at the Euro 2000 finals.