London, Apr 01: Turkey's preparations for Wednesday's crucial Euro 2004 qualifier at the Stadium of Light were boosted when a 'spy' reportedly infiltrated the England training camp. A Turkish official videotaped England's training session at their Slaley Hall headquarters after claiming he was with a charity organisation. The footage would have revealed England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson experimenting with a diamond formation as he considers changes from the side that laboured past Liechtenstein.
Paul Scholes is expected to move further forward for the game against Turkey, with Nicky Butt coming into a deep role at the expense of Kieron Dyer. That would leave captain David Beckham and Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard filling the wide positions. But any element of surprise that Eriksson was hoping to achieve will now be lost.
Uefa regulations ban officials from opposition sides visiting each other's training sessions.
The news could lead to a protest from the Football Association to their opposite numbers in Turkey. But Turkish coach Senol Gunes is likely to be unrepentant over the tactics, given his pre-match warning to Eriksson.
Gunes believes a Turkish victory in Sunderland on Wednesday could push Eriksson close to the sack and warned: "All managers know the price of success and failure. "England are a big force in world football and expectations are high.
"So decisions might be made by others against Mr Eriksson after the match if the result on Wednesday is bad."

Bureau Report