THEO Walcott insists England have "nothing to fear" at this summer's World Cup.

"We have to believe we can win the tournament," said the former Saints star.

"Obviously Spain are one of the big favourites. They won the European Championships and that was a great achievement.

"But we have nothing to fear because we've got some fantastic players."

With nine victories from their ten qualifying games, the Three Lions have improved markedly since Fabio Capello took charge.

Although the professional veneer slipped somewhat with the ill-conceived 'Capello Index', the Italian has brought a renewed focus, which is one of the reasons England are spending two long periods in Austria training at altitude prior to departure for their Rustenburg base on June 2.

And, once in South Africa, Walcott does not believe England have any reason to be concerned.

Walcott added: "If you look at us individually there are some great players and if you look at the way we qualified, it shows that those individuals are playing together as a team.

"We just want to go one step further at the World Cup and bring it back for the fans."

Walcott has been part of a reduced 24-man England squad that has been put through their paces during the first two days of their training programme in Irdning, designed to get them acclimatised to playing above sea-level, as they will have to do in South Africa.

The four Chelsea players, plus Portsmouth's David James, who were involved in the FA Cup final, arrive later today, meaning currently injured midfielder Gareth Barry will be the only absentee.

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