Michael Carrick hopes his surprise World Cup call-up will give Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard licence to thrill in the second-round clash with Ecuador in Stuttgart this afternoon.
Carrick is replacing Owen Hargreaves in the holding midfield role in a reshuffle by Sven-Goran Eriksson which sees the Bayern Munich player switching to right-back.
It will be Carrick's first taste of playing on football's biggest stage and he is determined to make up for the frustrations of being on the sidelines for the past month.
He said: "This is the biggest game of my career by far. There is not one that has come close to this one. The biggest I've played in so far? Probably the game for Spurs against West Ham at the end of the season because there was so much at stake.
"But now obviously this is 10 times bigger than that - and everything I have dreamed of. This is what you work towards your whole career, to play in a World Cup. For it to come around like this, at this stage of the competition when things are starting to get exciting, is a great thing to be a part of."
Carrick added: "Everyone has seen enough of each other to know everyone's strengths in the team. Hopefully I can come in and give something extra to the team and win the game.
"In this formation, I would say that me being there gives Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard more licence to go and support Wayne Rooney up front and hopefully chip in with some goals.
"I'll probably take the responsibility of taking a lot of the defensive side of it out for them. My strengths are getting on the ball, passing it and keeping possession. Hopefully I can get on the ball an awful lot and try to dictate the play. That will give Steven and Frank the license to go on and get in the box and score goals.
"My game on Sunday isn't going to be about going in there and scoring as many goals as I can - although obviously a goal would be nice. It's more about backing the play up, playing with responsibility and looking after the back four.
"It's going to be tough because they are a good side and they keep possession an awful lot as well so it's going to be interesting and hopefully we can get on top."
