England manager Roy Hodgson to use a psychologist to curb England's penalty woes

Dejected English players after the penalty shoot-out loss to Italy at Euro 2012

England manager Roy Hodgson, doesn’t want a repeat of Euro 2012 at the World Cup, where in the quarter-finals England were eliminated after losing the penalty shoot-out against Italy and as such is preparing to call on the services of a psychologist to prevent another heart-break.

Since 1990, England have won only 1 out of their 7 penalty shoot-outs, the solitary win coming against Spain in the quarter-finals of the 1996 Euros. England have exited six major tournaments in the same time due to penalties, with the most recent coming against Italy in the quarter-finals of Euro 2012. The manager has said that he is determined to give his players the best chance to succeed in the premier show-piece.

Former World Cup winning rugby union coach Dave Reddin will be taken to Brazil as part of the backroom staff by Hodgson, as he believes that the expertise of Reddin in sport psychology will deeply benefit the English team.

He said: “I’m not averse to using a psychologist. We are considering the possibility of inviting someone with us, but I think it’s very important they’re someone who is part of the group. I’m not sure just suddenly shipping someone in to give the players a lecture would work.

“I think there’s another possibility, we should be encouraging players to know their penalty, to practise that penalty. When you practise penalties within your group the goalkeeper knows the players, so maybe we won’t do it with a goalkeeper.

“Maybe we’ll have target area No1 and target area No2 and we’ll insist the player hits those targets. There are a lot of things that can be done but the bottom line is always going to be there’ll be players who are less confident than others.

“It’s a matter of how we assure ourselves that when those players go up they are as well prepared as they can be. In the final analysis it will be their character, their confidence and their ability to block out tomorrow morning’s headlines.”

He added: “Some players are good at that, other players find it harder. If a psychologist can find a way of getting a player to block that out we’ll be very, very happy.”

Currently, Reddin is the head of performance services for the Football Association, based at St George’s Park, and reports to Dan Ashworth, the director of elite development.