Poland v England: manager Roy Hodgson braced for defining World Cup qualifier showdown in Warsaw Gerrard understood that the Three Lions were a target for the big-game hunters. "Talking to Liverpool's [foreign] players, it's the same,"" Gerrard. said "They all want to beat England." He also appreciated an additional incentive for the Poles. "They want to be playing in the Premier League and they'll all want to shine."" Yet England boast (quietly) the personnel and personality to survive, even prosper. Gerrard pointed out that England had a new strength in depth, allowing them to have debates such as whether Ashley Cole should replace Leighton Baines (he should), whether Jermain Defoe should replace Danny Welbeck (he probably will). "It keeps everyone on their toes and will raise performances,"" Gerrard said. But it's important not to get carried away with these youngsters. There's a long way to go. England have experienced watersheds against Poland before, arguably the year of the riptides that precipitated an ebb in fortunes. The 2-0 World Cup qualifying defeat in Chorzow in 1973 was damaging enough but the painful draw later that year at Wembley wrecked hopes of reaching Germany 74. Jan Tomaszewski's ­defiance of Sir Alf Ramsey's attack was a seminal moment. England have yet to recover fully. Hodgson remembered it well. "Alf had had the enormous success in 1966 at the World Cup, and then the quarter-final in 1970 when we were coasting and a couple of players were substituted and we went out 3-2,"" Hodgson recalled. After that, the fact that an ageing team were unable in 1974 to qualify, with the goalkeeper at Wembley, was a bitter moment. A knowledge of history gives you some perspective, but it doesn't help you win matches. Yet history is all around with England, all the reminders of major moments, magnificent or miserable. Hysteria is all around England too and this is where the squad crave another watershed in Warsaw, for this trip to be remembered as the time when the focus was purely on the football. From dentist's chairs to toxic tweets, England managers have always had off-field travails to handle. The latest distraction was Ashley Cole's abusive post about the Football Association. To much hilarity, the first question about Cole to Hodgson and Gerrard coincided with the room being plunged into darkness when an FA security man accidentally leaned against the light switch. More gloom engulfed England. Gerrard was asked about the potential for a watershed in player behaviour, in the need for the spotlight to be solely on events on the pitch. "It is critical,"" he replied. We had a meeting at St George's Park last week and have the code of conduct in writing. It's common sense. We know we have to behave and there's no excuse any more."" The code of conduct reminds players of the need for good behaviour, for restraint on Twitter, and for showing support to team-mates and coaching staff in public and private. A degree of resentment lingers in the camp about the media fascination with off-field matters. FA sensitivity levels are currently set at "acute." Yet it needs noting that the current "off-field" focus was triggered by events on the pitch, notably John Terry's racist comment to Anton Ferdinand at Loftus Road on Oct 23, 2011. It also needs recalling that England's most successful tournaments since 1966 followed a meltdown in relations between press box and dressing room, notably before Italia 90 and Euro 96, both of which started with stand-offs over perceived ­scandals and culminated in glowing headlines after semi-final heartache. The truth is on the pitch. If England win tonight, the watershed will be celebrated wildly.