Fear factor low, England says

England manager Roy Hodgson insists his players won't fear France when they face Les Bleus in their heavyweight Euro 2012 duel on Monday.

France heads into the Group D game in Donetsk on the back of a 21-game unbeaten streak, brimming with confidence after a 4-0 drubbing of Estonia last week.

The French outplayed England when the sides last met at Wembley in a November 2010 friendly, and Laurent Blanc's team will start as the favorite in Monday's showdown in the Donbass Arena.

However Hodgson is adamant that despite England's chaotic and injury-hit build-up to the tournament, his players believed they were capable of beating the former World and European champions.

"The players think they can win, no question," Hodgson said. "There's no fear in that respect. There's healthy respect as they deserve to have.

"We know France's players - many of them play in England - we know the quality of those players. Our players have come across them week in, week out.

"And we must respect the fact that when you go 21 matches unbeaten, you've got a pretty good team there. If you went 21 matches unbeaten in a league, that's quite an achievement.

"But I don't get the feeling that our players are in any way cowed by the task ahead of them. Maybe they are more motivated in a way.

"It might be quite nice for them in a way to go into a game where people are saying 'You've got a tough game today, France are a better team than you'. It doesn't happen very often."

Agence France-Presse in Krakow, Poland