Dunn under spotlight

Dunn earned rave reviews for a stunning goal in the first leg of their play-off with Holland on Friday.

And as they attempt to finish the job at Derby tonight, with the tie delicately poised at 2-2, the exciting Rovers youngster plans to put all thoughts of the World Cup temporarily on hold.

"Obviously, for the England manager to say something like he has gives you a massive lift but really it's the same as I've said all along," said Dunn.

"It's good that he's thinking about putting me in but I've just got to make sure I carry on playing well for the Under 21s in the mean time.

"It's February when the England team next get together and people will come in and out of form between now and then.

"All I can hope is I'm still playing well around that time and then take it from there.

"But first we've got a job to do and I'm totally focused on the job we've got to do tonight."

England's hopes of reaching the European Championships looked dead and buried as the Dutch stormed into a 2-0 lead.

But thanks to Dunn's heroics and a goal from Fulham's Sean Davis they now have a great chance of going through.

"All the lads felt we didn't do ourselves justice on Friday night, especially in the first half when we found ourselves 2-0 down," said Dunn.

"But we then showed great character to come back and now we are in with a great chance of finishing the job off."

Meanwhile, Michael Carrick has spelt out the importance of everyone keeping their cool tonight in what is sure to be a white-hot atmosphere at Pride Park.

The West Ham midfielder insists it is important to avoid a repeat of what happened in another pressure cooker situation when John Terry and Luke Young were sent off in the Euro qualifier with Greece in Athens in June.

Carrick admits England lost their heads in the face of some intimidating challenges and angry skipper Dunn had to be restrained at the end of the match by team officials.

But he believes England have learnt from that experience as demonstrated in the face of some physical and ugly looking challenges from the Dutch in Friday's first leg in Utrecht.

Carrick said: "The Dutch were quite physical. It was all niggly sort of stuff, the kind of things that are not really malicious but can affect you if you let it get to you.

"You have got to get on with it and play the game as normally as you can. We had two sent off against Greece in the summer and I think we've learnt from that as a squad.

"I think we let our heads go a bit, not just the two lads who got sent off but everyone. We let ourselves down a bit and I think we've learnt from that.

"I think that showed the other night in the first leg. We stuck together and battled on in the right way and we have to do the same on Tuesday."

Coach David Platt admitted: "Perhaps what happened in Holland caught us by surprise because the game with them at Reading in August had not been physical in any shape or form - but we are playing for big stakes here.

"I've seen things on the video that I think were naughty in all honesty. I don't mind a physical game but one or two things that happened I was not best pleased with.

"But I am sure we will keep our discipline. We need to keep 11 players on the pitch. We managed to do it the other day despite having lumps kicked out of us."

Carrick is looking to the game to push his own chances of a place in Sven-Goran Eriksson's senior squad and the possibility of making the final World Cup 22.

He was in every squad named by Eriksson until last month's dramatic World Cup qualifier with Greece at Old Trafford but does not see going back into the Under-21s as a demotion.

He said: "It is hard because you want to be in the senior squad and getting that full cap under your belt if you can. I was a little disappointed and that's just natural.

"But being selected for the Under-21s is no disgrace and I spoke to the gaffer (Platt) and he said it's better to play for 90 minutes with the Under-21s than just having a bit part in the full side.

"I'm happy with that. I'm more than happy to come back and perform at this level and hopefully if I perform it will help get me into the full squad again.

"It's a big six months for me and things have happened quickly. It's only my second year as a first teamer at West Ham and you are talking about trying to get into a World Cup squad.

"There are always one or two that seem to come through late like Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen four years ago and I hope I can do the same - but we'll have to wait and see."

Platt is optimistic of being at full strength with John Terry and Malcolm Christie expected to be fit after picking up knocks in the first leg.

He also insisted England would not sit back even though they have the advantage of two priceless away goals in the bank.

Platt said: "We know if it finishes 0-0 or 1-1 that we are through but we will go out to win the game and play the way we want to play."