"I'm sure Mark Hughes does not need to lift his side - they will want to beat England.
"But England's players are very up for it and playing at Old Trafford is something special. We know the Wales team will be up for a derby but so will we. On paper we might be favourites, but if we don't show discipline and motivation you will not win a football match.
"You see a lot of the Welsh team in the Premiership. They have a good team and those three up front, they're really-top class players - Bellamy and Giggs and Hartson."
Eriksson's plans have been boosted by Wayne Rooney's return from injury and Rio Ferdinand's completion of his eight-month drugs ban.
"He (Rooney) looks very good and in great shape and it's amazing to see him knowing he's been out for such a long time," said Eriksson. "The same with Rio, he's very fit and very hungry to play for England."
Ferdinand's availability means Eriksson has the luxury of picking the Manchester United defender and Sol Campbell for the match while keeping John Terry and Ledley King in reserve.
The coach said: "We have four very good centre-backs and we can only play two so we are covered very well at the moment."
Meanwhile, David James took a swipe at the Welsh team today by suggesting that half of them are Englishmen and only in the squad because of family connections. The England No2 goalkeeper risked firing up tomorrow's opponents and put his foot in it by incorrectly claiming many of them are not born in Wales.
His jibe follows rivalry with his Manchester City team-mate Ben Thatcher, who was born in Swindon and played for England's Under-21s before switching allegiance last March.
The defender qualified through his grandmother and James believed Wales were vulnerable to claims about their players nationalities in the way the Republic of Ireland squad used to be under Jack Charlton.
James said: "I kneed Thatcher in the back the other day. He has a strong Welsh accent - there are a few like that in Cardiff. He is buzzing. For the Welsh lads there is an added twist considering half of them are English."
But James, dropped by Eriksson after his mistake cost England a win in Austria last month, has made another big error.
Thatcher only turned to Wales after giving up on playing for Eriksson's side and Ryan Giggs famously played for England's schoolboys. But Hughes's squad is full of bona fide Welshman and even the Manchester United winger was born in Cardiff.
