Lagerback says he has the backing of his players

Several Sweden newspapers published opinion polls with a large majority calling for Lagerback to step down.

"I have a contract until 2008 and have not had any other thoughts," he said.

"It's hard to know how representative these polls are. We in the coaching staff don't have the same expectations as in the media."

Lagerback added: "As a coach I say you need to be realistically optimistic. For a country like Sweden to qualify for the finals and advance from the group stage I think that is rather good."

"The only way I would take the initiative and resign would be if the players did not have confidence in me," he said.

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic added his support to the coach.

"He has to stay on," said the Juventus forward.

"He's done a fantastic job when you consider we're a country of nine million. It's anything but automatic that Sweden make it to the last 16."