Kevin Keegan declared Steve Gerrard's fitness ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Germany to be a "major plus" as he challenged his England side to embark on a run of victories against their arch rivals.

Keegan has been unable to carry out his wish to start with Gerrard since the emerging midfielder impressed in only his second appearance for his country as a substitute against Germany at the Euro 2000 finals.

But having been forced to miss England's final group game against Romania as well as the friendly in France due to injury, the 20-year-old Kop favourite at Liverpool is now challenging for his first start in a competitive international on Saturday.

Keegan declared: "This is the first time that Steve has reported for England and has been fully fit, so that is a major plus.

"We had him in and out of fitness, if you like, at Euro 2000. But I'm delighted to have him here and I'm delighted to have 27 players whom I think could be fit to choose from. Steve did ever so well when he came on against Germany in the summer.

"You couldn't have asked any more of someone with his experience than to have come into a game as difficult as that one was and perform like he did.

"So the future is good in terms of the young talent. I don't think there's any argument we've got the kids coming through that Germany probably wish they had. They've said that themselves."

Gerrard, who has been plagued by minor "niggles" associated with a back problem, insists his fitness is finally improving and that he is no longer worried about the potential for further injury before matches.

If he were to be picked on Saturday in the England coach's accustomed 4-4-2 formation, it would be likely to mean Dennis Wise and Paul Ince being on the bench, and David Beckham back on the right flank.

But despite having only made one previous start for England in the pre-Euro 2000 friendly against Ukraine, Gerrard insists there would be no danger of him being over-awed by the prospect.

He declared: "That's what I'm aiming to prove, that I deserve a regular place.

"When you have got the likes of Paul Scholes and David Beckham who can also play centre midfield, it is harder."

That Euro 2000 victory was England's first in a competitive game against Germany since the 1966 World Cup final and Keegan believes it will give his side a psychological edge ahead of this weekend.

Keegan, who wants to take home a memento from Wembley after the final game at the stadium, said: "I remember saying before the championships that if we beat Germany and lost the other two games, I would be disappointed.

"But the one thing the result did do was to lay to rest the ghost of 34 years of people thinking we just couldn't beat Germany and that they had something over us.

"It would be nice to think now that we could give them a run of something like 30-odd years before they beat us again.

"It won't be easy but it would be enjoyable - and we can only do that if we get a result on Saturday."

The England coach meanwhile has mixed feelings about his side playing away from Wembley while the new national stadium is being built.

"If you talk to Arsenal about their European campaign at Wembley then it is a fantastic stadium, but it is a big pitch, and teams do seem to have some joy in knocking it around without too much purpose there," he said.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.