Tara's shirty dig

Charlton's Tara Proctor hopes England's women footballers can emulate the men tonight.

The team are in Kassel to take on the Germans in the first qualifying games for the 2003 Women's World Cup in China.

England face a tough task as they have lost all 11 previous games against the Germans, but Proctor is seeking inspiration from her nightwear - a T-shirt commemorating the 5-1 thrashing which Sven- Goran Eriksson's side handed out in Munich four weeks ago.

Proctor, 30, is set to captain the team for the second time, and said: "I've been wearing my England shorts and my T-shirt to bed in the build-up to the game.

"We're going to be the underdogs in Germany, just like the men were, but that fantastic result in Munich can inspire us."

The two nations last met three months ago at the European Championships in Germany, where the hosts won 3-0 en-route to winning the competition for the third time in succession.

That was midfielder Proctor's first game as England captain and she said: "The final scoreline the last time we played them didn't reflect the game whatsoever.

"We were on top in the first half and really frustrated them, but lapses in concentration cost us in the second half.

"They are nothing to be scared of though, and we certainly shouldn't be in awe of them. If we can play as well as we did last time and keep our concentration for the full 90 minutes, anything is possible."