Wayne to Bridge the gap

"I think it would work," said Bridge today. "I played there in my early days at Southampton and I think I could adapt."

Eriksson could, meanwhile, be forced into another change if Liverpool's Steven Gerrard fails to recover from a groin injury.

Gerrard was forced to pull out of training yesterday after the groin tightened. He later underwent a scan but the result was clear.

Eriksson will be loathe to risk Gerrard with another qualifier against Poland next Wednesday.

If there is any doubt about Gerrard's fitness, Eriksson looks likely to rest him tomorrow, with either Owen Hargreaves or Shaun Wright-Phillips coming in.

Eriksson's future as England coach does not depend on the results of the two World Cup qualifiers against Austria and Poland.

His job was in the balance during the summer following the furore surrounding his relationship with Fariah Alam but the Swede survived.

The feeling now is that England need at least four points from their first two World Cup qualifying matches to avoid the pressure building again on Eriksson.

The Swede continues, however, to have the full support of influential members of the Football Association, including Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein, who is also a member of the FA's international committee, acting chief executive David Davies and Trevor Brooking, the director of football development.

There are other figures from within the FA who remain markedly less supportive of their coach and who would see a poor start to England's World Cup qualifying campaign as an opportunity to question his credibility once again.

The FA expect up to 3,000 fans at the match in the 49,000-capacity Ernst Happel Stadion but intelligence suggests there is unlikely to be any trouble either tomorrow or next Wednesday when England meet Poland in Katowice.

Meanwhile, Austria's former Arsenal goalkeeper Alex Manninger today warned Eriksson that his England team face a tough test in Vienna.

He said: "We know the pressure will be on England and it will be interesting to see how they will deal with that because they have had some problems recently.

"Everyone expects England to win the group easily but they will not enjoy coming here. Austria will make it hard for them."

England (probable): James; G Neville, A Cole, Terry, King; Beckham (cpt), Lampard, Gerrard or Hargreaves, Bridge; Smith, Owen.