Sven-Goran Eriksson says Wayne Rooney and England's prolific midfielders will provide his World Cup bid with firepower.

Eriksson remains defiant despite the injury which rules Michael Owen out of the competition.

Owen flew home yesterday after a scan confirmed he had ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

The Newcastle striker faces a long fitness battle and the England coach is short of recognised strikers for Sunday's last-16 clash with Ecuador in Stuttgart.

Eriksson, however, believes Rooney, Joe Cole and Steven Gerrard will step up to the mark in Owen's absence.

The England boss said: "I'm not that worried about the situation because Rooney is getting better and better. That's a big thing for us.

"And we have midfielders who can easily play second-striker and have done for their clubs. Joe Cole has done it sometimes and Steven Gerrard has done it many times."

The England manager opted to leave Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe out of his 23-man squad in favour of an extra midfielder.

He also chose Theo Walcott ahead of Defoe and now seems reluctant to expose the 17-year-old to the World Cup.

The decision attracted criticism at the time and surely will again now that the gamble appears to have backfired.

Eriksson said: "I can understand that people will talk about that. If you talk about strikers and people who can play as strikers I think we are very well covered even without Michael.

"I'm sure about it. We don't want any more injuries on strikers. But who scored the goals against Sweden? Steven Gerrard and Joe Cole and they can do that job easily."

Eriksson was upset for Owen, who had fought back from a broken foot to be declared fit for Germany.

The Swede said: "His disappointment was very big at half time and even after the match when I talked to him.

"It is a big blow for us, the fans and especially Michael Owen because he has been looking forward to this for a long time now."

Eriksson says there were many encouraging aspects to the 2-2 draw with Sweden, which was enough to win Group B and avoid a second-round showdown with hosts Germany.

He said: "I am very happy with the first half. I think we played better than the other two games. We are coming.

"Even if we didn't win the game, I think we took a step forward if you take away the set-pieces and Michael Owen of course. That's a negative."

Sweden caused England serious problems from setpieces in the second half.

Eriksson said: "I admit we did it badly. We will handle it better on Sunday.

"We have to defend better on set-pieces. When we defend against the long ball we knocked it back sometimes.

"We should try to keep it and come out with the team."

Eriksson hailed the performance of Owen Hargreaves, starting his first England match for more then two years.

Hargreaves played in place of Gerrard, who was started on the bench because he was one caution away from a ban, but came on for Rooney and scored.

Eriksson said: "He showed he is a great player. I thought he was brilliant out there.

"He was full of energy until the last minute. He plays in that position for Bayern Munich week-in, week-out."

Hargreaves was cautioned against the Swedes but the suspension threat has eased because the yellow cards from the group games are not carried forward into the knockout phase.