Owen defends Eriksson

Michael Owen has defended boss Eriksson after the 1-0 defeat to Northern Ireland last night.

"If the manager gets stick it's due in no small part to the players. We were out there playing and we didn't perform well enough.

"We played well for the first half an hour but then seemed to get worse and worse. But we take collective responsibility for the performance and now we have to show collective togetherness, stick tight and put it right in the next two games."