Sweden have vowed to disprove claims they are a bunch of Premiership rejects by maintaining their impressive run against England in Tuesday's World Cup clash.

Eleven of Lars Lagerback's World Cup squad have played in England in the past, but only Aston Villa's Olof Mellberg and Freddie Ljungberg of Arsenal have really made a mark.

Others such as Marcus Allback, Mattias Jonson, and Tobias Linderoth had less success in the Premiership, leading to taunts in the English press that Sweden will not be able to match Sven-Goran Eriksson's men when they meet in Cologne in their final Group B clash.

But the Scandinavians have hit back at the comments and pointed to an unbeaten record against the English which stretches back to 1968.

Jonson, who spent a season with Norwich before their relegation at the end of the 2004-05 season, believes the statistics speak for themselves when it comes to Sweden-England matches.

"Some of our players have done well (in England), others less so. I don't know if that has any significance," said the Djurgarden forward.

"But we've always been difficult to beat when we play England."

Midfielder Linderoth admits the Swedish squad does not have as many star players as their English counterparts, but the former Everton man insists teamwork has always been the key to their success.

"Those who perhaps don't understand much about football, and just look at which clubs players are with, will say England have a better team," Linderoth explained.

"But if you look at the team as a whole then we're just as good.

"We were better than England at the 2002 World Cup (where they played out a 1-1 draw) and we're definitely not going into this match with any fear or concern.

"England have done what's expected of them so far, but we have a lot of energy and belief in our own play," he added.