Mr Banks was speaking in the wake of the intense media scrutiny directed at England striker Teddy Sheringham over his all night stay in a Portuguese nightclub, and the reports of Paul Gascoigne's night-time drink and kebab incident.

"They are probably the most important, with the coach, 23 people in the country at the moment and the whole attention of the country and indeed large chunks of the world are actually focused on them," said Mr Banks.

"It's a fairly uncomfortable feeling to have everyone looking at you and of course the media are continually trying to catch people out."

"It's not a very nice attitude in my opinion. We want them to go off there and be feeling at the top of their morale, not right down in the dumps."

Mr Banks acknowledged that there were different ways to relax and that some might be more appropriate than others for the squad.

But relaxation was an important part of training and building up team spirit, argued Mr Banks, who said the squad's trip to a West End theatre seemed like a good idea.

Mr Banks, interviewed on television, insisted that even if England made the final, he would fulfil his pledge not to use his position to get a seat at the game, instead staying at home and watching on television.

Asked if that pledge still held good, Mr Banks insisted: "Absolutely, you can trust me, I'm a government minister."