England [Images] goalkeeper Paul Robinson has given the official World Cup ball a thumbs down, saying it is more like one used for water-polo.

Robinson has been using the ball in training as he prepares for Saturday's Group B opener against Paraguay and the results have not endeared it to England's number one.

"There's a lot of difference. It's very goalkeeper unfriendly," Robinson told a news conference on Tuesday.

"It's a different ball -- there's no stitching on the ball, it's glued together in two panels. It's more like a water-polo ball or volleyball. It's very light and moves a lot in the air.

"And it's got like a plastic casing around it, so when it's wet it's not ideal for goalkeepers.

"But it's something we have to deal with. They're bringing out new balls all the time."

Having replaced David James over the past two years during England's qualifying campaign, Robinson will be going into his first tournament as England's first-choice keeper.

NATURAL PROGRESSION

Though he sees it as a natural progression of a career that started at Leeds United and blossomed at Tottenham Hotspur, he said: "It will be a very, very proud moment for me as a footballer and as a person.

"Every time you pull on an England shirt it fills you with a lot of pride and no more so than on Saturday.

"I've been given the chance to be one of the few English goalkeepers who have played at the World Cup finals and I'm really looking forward to it."

The down-to-earth Yorkshireman is all too well aware of the expectations that have been built up back home.

Though England are awaiting the results of a scan on injured striker Wayne Rooney's [Images] broken foot on Wednesday, they still have a squad who could go far in Germany [Images].

"There's a general buzz about the squad, there's an excitement, an expectancy," said the 26-year-old. "We don't want to underachieve.

"The nation expects...and we've got hardly any injury worries other than the obvious one we all know about.

"There's no reason, on merit, why we shouldn't finish among the top four teams in the world."