England take on Slovenia knowing anything other than a victory would almost certainly consign them to an early flight back from South Africa and condemnation from millions of supporters who feel so badly let down by their team's performances so far.

As captain - and supposedly one of their most influential and talented players - Gerrard must carry the burden of expectation, and take responsibility if it all goes wrong.

And he is determined to shelve the recriminations for a little while at least.

"I can certainly understand why the fans are angry," said Gerrard.

"We came here with big expectations. We have got a lot of support here. People have paid big money and expect us to win games.

"The last thing we want to do is to go home after the group stages.

"That would be an absolute disaster for this group of players."

After 48 hours of in-fighting, it can only be hoped what England will be returning home to unless they exert their superiority over a team defeated by the Three Lions at Wembley as recently as September last year can sharpen a few minds.

A number of players, including John Terry and David James, have bristled at Fabio Capello's suggestion that fear is holding them back.

Yet, sat next to his manager, Gerrard humbly accepted Capello was right.

"The fear of not winning drives you on," he said.

"We have come here to stay in this tournament to the end. We want more. We want a performance tomorrow.

"But the key, to try and live without fear.

"There is pressure and fear. You are playing for England and you have massive support.

"But it doesn't help to go on to the pitch and play with that fear. You have to go on to the pitch and try to relax and be patient. Then the performance will come.

"We need to change the perception of how we have done so far. We want to make the nation proud and happy."

Gerrard reported signs on the training ground have been encouraging.

Yet Capello has already stated his concerns during this tournament about England's players being unable to reproduce what he sees at the Royal Bafokeng complex in Rustenburg on a matchday.

The real trigger for a transformation lies in England being able to produce the high-tempo, pressing game that is on show every week in the Premier League and which, in theory, the cooler night-time temperatures of a South African winter should be ideally suited to.

"We have stopped doing the things we are good at," admitted Gerrard.

"We watched the Algeria game in the team meeting the other day, without anyone talking, and it was clear we didn't play to our strengths.

"We weren't aggressive enough. We didn't press high enough. We didn't win the ball back when we lost possession. We didn't run enough. We didn't have the cutting edge to break them down.

"We need to get that tomorrow."

Slovenia may hate it, but it would be true to say most English fans might struggle to locate a country that was formerly part of Yugoslavia and boasts a population of just two million, the smallest of any nation at this tournament.

They have some decent players. But they are hardly Brazil, or Argentina, or Spain, or any other of the heavyweights England regard themselves the equal of.

Faced with such opposition, their backs against the wall, England surely must win. Indeed, even the horrible pitch, which neither side has been able to train on and has been likened to the surface that has to be contended with at Wembley, is in their favour.

"The pitch has a few small problems but I have played on worse," said Gerrard.

"It is the same for both sides. We cannot use it as an excuse.

"We must put everything out of our minds after the display against Algeria and focus on getting this win."