Sven-Goran Eriksson's England stars have been warned that they could face a fans' backlash over their threat to risk the nation's Euro 2004 future by striking.

Supporters' groups last night voiced relief over the late deal which saw David Beckham and his team-mates fly out to Istanbul yesterday following Wednesday night's resolution of the row surrounding Rio Ferdinand's omission from the squad. Ferdinand was left out after it was revealed that he had missed a random drugs test, sparking a furious reaction from his team-mates which at one point threatened their participation in tomorrow evening's vital Group Seven clash with Turkey.

Mark Perryman, of the official England supporters' association englandfans, was delighted that peace had broken out, but warned that there may yet be some fall-out.

''The irony is that the problems which were expected to surround this game involved fans going to Istanbul and causing trouble, but England fans appear to be showing a hell of a lot more moral fibre than the players,'' he said.

''I understand that they're defending a mate who they believe has been maliciously treated, but they have to have the guts to stand up and admit that Rio did something wrong.

''Most England fans who I've spoken to - and I speak to a lot every day - with the honorable exception of Manchester United fans, are saying that we can't have this.

''We all want the team to win on Saturday, the players as well as the fans. Let's hope the team go out thinking 'Let's win it for Rio'. I'm sure they'll give 200 per cent, there's no doubt about that.

''We'd all like Rio to be there - he was one of the players of the entire World Cup - but the fact is, he's been very stupid.

''I support trade unions and their right to strike. The PFA has seen one of it's members under attack and the England squad feels that one of its members has been victimised, but I just don't think that adds up. It's great that the team has that kind of ethic - if one of our is attacked, we defend him - that's their perogative. But don't be surprised if the fans, when you next play at home, look at you in a slightly different light.''

Mr Perryman also admitted his astonishment at Ferdinand's claim that he simply forgot about the test and dismissed the results of an examination 36 hours later as irrelevant.