Centre-half Rio Ferdinand says he and his team-mates will ignore the fact that Portugal have the man who could have been the next England manager on their bench for the World Cup quarter-final.

Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari had been lined up to succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson, before withdrawing from the race to leave Steve McClaren to take up the reins after the tournament in Germany.

However, Ferdinand says that that fact will not have any effect on Saturday's showdown.

He said: "I won't be thinking about him one bit. He is nothing for me to think about. He's not my manager, he's nothing to do with England.

"I'll have no thoughts about Scolari at all. I just be thinking about England winning the game.

"The players are the people who make the difference.

"If a chance goes up to the front-man, the manager's not going to be there to kick it in, it's the centre-forward.

"If the ball needs clearing at the back, it's the defenders or the goalkeeper who do that.

"The manager sets the stall out, but it is the players who have to go out and implement that.

"When a manager speaks to you about something or during the game at half-time you take that in, and it is then up to you to go out and make that happen in a game."