Sven-Goran Eriksson has declared his determination to win over the critics opposed to the appointment of an overseas England coach.

The Swede gave an accomplished, if characteristically unspectacular, performance in his first public appearance since agreeing to take over as Kevin Keegan's long-term successor.

After admitting his ''big surprise'' that the Football Association had turned to him, he made all the right noises in insisting he was so ''honoured'' that it took him only a couple of hours to accept.

Indeed, Eriksson declared the England post to be a job that could not be turned down, insisted the national team could still qualify for the 2002 World Cup finals and outlined his determination to bring success to the country.

It was hardly a rallying-cry of Keegan proportions but then again the 52-year-old Swede was still positive in his own understated way, without committing the cardinal sin of promising too much without being able to deliver.

Although he was determined not to draw any comparisons with the past for fear of being seen to criticise Keegan, a line seemed to have been quite deliberately drawn in the sand.

FA chief executive Adam Crozier believes the England players deserve coaching at international level of at least an equal standard to that which they receive with their clubs.

In asserting they would now be getting that when Eriksson takes full-time charge next year, he seemed to intimate a belief at Lancaster Gate that Keegan and his criticised back-room staff had not exactly provided it.

The Swede, who must also unify a squad which is understood to suffer something of a rift between Liverpool and Manchester United elements, certainly offers the coaching and tactical credentials that Keegan never possessed.

He also stepped nonchalantly around the potential pitfalls placed in his path in his first press conference with skills honed by the pressures abundant in Rome.

Eriksson was apparently unaware of Joe Cole and was stumped when asked the identities of the Leicester keeper, Tim Flowers, and Sunderland left-back Michael Gray.

But he simply and effectively deflected the questions by maintaining he would ''know everything'' when he took over and it really matters.

When that will be remains to be seen, with Lazio apparently resisting Eriksson's belief he can continue to manage the Italian champions while also taking charge of England part-time for three World Cup qualifiers next year.

There is also speculation that Lazio may sack him before next July, but he insisted: ''It's always very beautiful to leave a job after a good result and that's my objective.''

Whenever he does take over as England coach, the scepticism about the appointment of an overseas coach for the first time will surely only increase in fervour.

Asked whether he had expected antipathy from inside the game as well as from fans, Eriksson responded: ''I didn't think about it so much but I can understand there are people saying that England should have an English manager.

''In Sweden, we had an English manager many years ago. In 1958 he took part in the World Cup, so why shouldn't a Swede many years later coach the England side?

''I don't want to take part in that discussion though, as I don't think it's my job to say whether it should be a foreign manager or not.

''I hope in a couple of years that those talking against me will talk for me.''

Although Eriksson actually stated that the Englishman in question, George Raynor, had won the 1958 World Cup final rather than losing it to Brazil, that was simply an uncharacteristic slip of the tongue.

He was back on firmer ground as he attempted to address the potentially tricky, philosophical question of where his heart now lay.

''I hope that I'm not so limited that I can only think about one thing in life. I think our brain is much bigger than that,'' he argued.

''When I'm sitting on the bench at Lazio, of course I am doing everything for them to win but I can otherwise think about English football as well.

''I don't see a big problem there. My heart is with me always. It will be more and more English.''

He also stressed that he had ''always been a big fan of English football'' and recalled having been in the Anfield boot-room with Joe Fagan and on the bench alongside Bobby Robson for one Ipswich match