Steven Gerrard has welcomed England's four-week preparation ahead of the World Cup finals after the Football Association finally found a solution to next season's fixture conundrum.

The FA's main board have voted to hold next season's FA Cup sixth round on a midweek night to enable Sven-Goran Eriksson to have enough time with his squad ahead of the tournament if England qualify.

They reinstated FA Cup replays for the fifth and sixth rounds, which was the original solution opposed by the FA Challenge Cup committee.

And their new plan will surely have found favour with Eriksson as it enables him to give his squad seven days off at the end of the domestic season before then preparing together for three weeks.

The England coach did not want his team to be disadvantaged as their European rivals had already been guaranteed the same four-week break.

Gerrard declared: "With the amount of games we play during a season, it's important that, come these tournaments, you are fresh and ready.

"Sven will know how to handle that right and I am sure that, by the time we start the training, we will be really fresh because of the week he will have given us beforehand."

Gerrard told the Football Association's website, www.theFA.com: "It's definitely important to prepare right because the preparation goes a long way.

"That is why we were hoping that we would have more time together before the tournament kicks off so we can get the team spirit and the camaraderie going and work on formations and tactics.

"Then, come the first game, we would be right. It is always better to have more time than less time."

The FA, meanwhile, announced in a statement: "The FA board can confirm the England senior team will have four full weeks of preparation time for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, if qualification is achieved.

"The FA Cup final will be played on May 13, 2006 and there will be replays for every round of the competition, up to and including the sixth round.

"This is in accordance with the desire of the FA Challenge Cup Committee, the FA Premier League and the Football League. The FA Cup sixth-round ties will be played midweek.

"This solution is in the widest possible interests of English football in the World Cup year of 2006."