Eriksson's squad selection has been questioned in some corners

England have just three recognised front men, Wayne Rooney, Peter Crouch and the, as yet, untested Theo Walcott after Michael Owen flew home.

Eriksson said: "I don't regret my squad selections because I think we're covered very well.

"I'm sure I've picked the best squad - I'm not worried about the situation."

News conference: Sven-Goran Eriksson

The Swede surprised many with his inclusion of Walcott, yet to play in the Premiership since being signed by Arsenal last season, at the expense of more established strikers.

And his selection has been further questioned having not employed the 17-year-old off the substitutes' bench even with the withdrawal of the injured Owen and Rooney against Sweden.

Despite Owen flying home on Wednesday after rupturing his anterior cruciate knee ligament, Eriksson defended his squad and, when asked if Walcott could play a substantial role in Germany, Eriksson said: "I hope so, yes".

If we get a penalty shoot-out we'd hope to do better than we did in the last tournament Sven-Goran Eriksson

He added: "It was very difficult to give Walcott a go in the last match because two of the three substitutions were injuries and the third was Wayne Rooney.

"I didn't want to put Walcott into that game. I'm not sure it was right and I wanted Steven Gerrard in there."

Eriksson refused to be drawn on whether Rooney was now fit enough to last a full 90 minutes in the second round against Ecuador.

But he paid tribute to the Manchester United striker, saying he could do "whatever we ask him to do", also hinting he could yet play up front alone in the next round.

England set up that tie after topping Group B despite a mixed display against the Swedes, which was littered with defensive errors.

Eriksson admitted his players had "defended awfully".

"It's difficult to know why as we're normally strong in those situations," he said. "We should have won that game and I don't think it (the defensive errors) will happen again."

Eriksson also revealed his players were regularly practising penalties ahead of the knock-out stages and that he had a clear idea of his penalty takers should the situation arise.

"We have to prepare 10 or 11 players, perhaps even more, to take them," he added. "We've practised them a lot and will do so again today.