Ferdinand will prove me wrong says Eriksson

Sven-Goran Eriksson believes Rio Ferdinand will use England's World Cup qualifier against Poland on Wednesday to prove he was wrong to have axed the central defender against Austria.

Ferdinand's recent dip in form for England and Manchester United had led Eriksson to drop him from the starting line-up on Saturday in favour of Sol Campbell and John Terry.

The blow, delivered at Ferdinand's Old Trafford club ground, was unexpectedly softened in the second half when Campbell suffered a hamstring injury that will also rule him out on Wednesday. Ferdinand came on as a substitute.

"He will start," Eriksson said of his plans for the 26-year-old against Poland, also at Old Trafford.

"When you take decisions like this, with great players who have never sat on the bench before, you can get two different reactions.

"One is head down, even worse, sad, whatever it is. Or you have the opposite - 'I will show you that you're wrong'.

"Rio will show me that I was wrong. I'm 100 per cent sure of that."