Michael Barker says all the pressure is on Ukraine ahead of their Group A decider against England on Saturday.
Barker is currently competing at the Cerebral Palsy World Championships, which is taking place at St. George’s Park between 16-28 June.
The Three Lions got off to an explosive start with a 14-0 victory against Japan on the opening day.
England v Ukraine
Cerebral Palsy World Championships
Group phase
5pm, Saturday 20 June
Live on TheFA.com
Originally drawn alongside Iran, Japan and Ukraine in Group A, the pool become a three-horse race when Iran were forced to pull out at the last minute.
Ukraine went two better than England when they took on Japan on Thursday, and registered a 16-0 victory.
But due a tournament rule that stipulates goal difference is capped at +10 for any individual match, the pair go into Saturday’s encounter on an even footing.
And with world champions Russia likely to be awaiting the runners-up, there is everything to play for – not that the laid-back Merseysider is overly concerned.
England strolled past Japan on day one of the CP World Championships
“The pressure is off,” he told TheFA.com.
“We’re already through the group with Iran dropping out, so I think the result is on Ukraine to be fair.
“They’re one of the best. It’s always either them or Russia that are number one in the world, so we know it’s going to be tough.
“Everybody has to concentrate 100 per cent and we might be able to get something out of the game.”
With almost ten years’ experience and 75 caps for England’s CP side, Barker may not be the oldest member of the squad, but he is by far the most experienced.
A promising young footballer, at the age of 14 he was involved in a horrific accident that ended his dreams of turning professional – but he found his feet again in disability football, and has never looked back.
CP football explained
“I was just being a normal youngster and I was probably somewhere I shouldn’t have been,” he explained.
“I was climbing on a railway and I fell off the bridge, and then got run over by a bus. From there I was disabled.
“After I’d started my recovery my gran showed me a story in the local paper about Everton’s PAN Disability programme, and about the great work they were doing in the community for people with disabilities and confidence issues.
“I went there and cutting a long story short I progressed with them and started playing for the U18s side.
“Then one night there was a guy there watching and he was wearing an England tracksuit. He wasn’t exactly blending in and everyone was talking about it.
“Before that night we didn’t even know about an England setup. We didn’t know there was a step higher to go than where we were.”
There was a step up. First there was a trial, then the offer to play in the 2006 World Championships.
“We have a good chance to go further than we have ever done before”
Michael Barker England CP
And almost a decade later Barker is still a key figure in the England CP setup. “I’ve been here quite a while now,” he continued.
“I’m just glad to still be representing the team because everyone who I first went with is not here now. I’m the old boy – I’m not the oldest, but I’ve been here the longest!"
So what now for the 27-year-old? After years of gradual improvement at international level, he simply want to continue on the upward trajectory.
In recent years they have finished tenth in the 2011 World Championships, seventh in the 2012 Paralympics and fifth in the 2014 European Championships.
“Looking at where we finished before – and the squad we have now with all the youngsters coming through – we have a good chance to go further than we have ever done before.
“I just want us to finish as high as we can.”
