Hodgson preparing England for 'dreaded' penalty-shoot out ahead of Euro QF clash with Ital

London, June 21 (ANI): England manager Roy Hodgson is preparing his Three Lions team for penalty a shoot-out ahead of quarter-final clash with Italy.

Having banished one banshee by surviving a goal-line controversy against Ukraine, Hodgson now faces up to another of England's demons with the chilling prospect of penalties against Italy in Sunday's Euro 2012 quarter-final in Kiev.

Hodgson claimed that he understood the national phobia of being placed on the spot.

"It's because we've lost important matches on penalties so it's going to be that way," The Telegraph quoted Hodgson, as saying.

"When you are working with the England national team, the past is always going to weigh heavily. Everything we do today is compared with something that happened in the past," he added.

Hodgson cited that its all about a player's "composure, confidence, ability to block everything out"

"Forget the occasion that means you score or you don't score. Sometimes we've seen the best players miss and the best players you think are not penalty-takers are the ones that smash them in," he said. (ANI)