Fans defy travel ban

England fans have begun arriving in Skopje for tomorrow's European Championship qualifier, even though the match is an 18,000-sellout and there are no tickets for away supporters.

Many booked their flights here months before the Football Association decided not to take up their allocation, and were today hoping to buy tickets on the black market despite warnings of potential violence from local hooligans.

The FA had threatened to give life bans to any fans who travelled to Macedonia.

The England squad, meanwhile, arrived here late last night amid tight security. Liverpool striker Michael Owen, though, believes the handicap of having no official England support at either tomorrow's match or next month's tie in Turkey could galvanise the England squad.

"I've been around long enough to have played in matches where there have been no fans or in small, hostile stadia," he said.

"You tend to pull together. There are 11 men plus the substitutes and management. Altogether if there are only 20 of you, you clench your fist and think that it's us against you lot.

"It can provide that extra little spur for you."

Owen, however, expects a tough challenge tomorrow, against a team which drew 2-2 with England in Southampton last season.

"They played really well in that game," Owen recalled.

"When you score two goals at home to a team like Macedonia you would expect to win but we didn't defend well and didn't do enough.

"It was a kick up the backside for us but we're under no illusions as to how tough it's going to be."

Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson will be forced into fielding a makeshift midfield in England's crucial European Championship qualifier here, should David Beckham be ruled out following today's make-or-break fitness test.

The England captain tweaked a groin muscle playing for Real Madrid and although the injury is not serious, the England captain needs to prove his fitness.

Eriksson needs to know whether Beckham can play a full part in tomorrow's qualifier and was planning to give him an extensive workout today.

The signs are, however, that Beckham will be fit.

He trained on his own in the squad's Manchester hotel gym before flying out to Macedonia and Eriksson is quietly confident his captain will be ready to play. The Swede is desperate for Beckham to play, having already lost midfielders Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Trevor Sinclair through injury.

Should the decision be made not to risk Beckham , Eriksson will be forced to field a midfield line-up which has never played together before at international level.

Chelsea's Frank Lampard is certain to make the starting line-up, while Eriksson will also need Nicky Butt's defensive qualities.

Beckham, if fit, would obviously play on the right of midfield. But if not, the Swede will have to fill two places from four players.

Bayern Munich's Owen Hargreaves looks favourite to play even if Beckham is fit, while the other options are Newcastle's Kieron Dyer, who was himself doubtful earlier in the week, Manchester United's Phil Neville or Liverpool's Danny Murphy.

Beckham's presence would provide England with the perfect fillip before a match they really need to win if they harbour serious hopes of finishing top of Group Seven.

The risk, though, is that playing Beckham might aggravate the injury and consequently rule him out of next Wednesday's qualifier against Liechtenstein at Old Trafford.

Rio Ferdinand, Beckham's former Manchester United team-mate, remains doubtful for that match, although he is making some improvement following his kidney infection.

The United medical staff are carrying out tests to discover the root of the problem and it is still hoped Ferdinand will join up with the England squad following their return to Manchester on Sunday.

But in the absence of Ferdinand tomorrow, Chelsea's John Terry is expected to start his second successive senior international, following his inclusion in the friendly against Croatia last month.

In attack, it is anticipated Eriksson will partner Owen with Everton youngster Wayne Rooney.

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