Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has backed Sam Allardyce to succeed when he takes over the national side.

The Football Association is expected to confirm Allardyce in the role later on Thursday, having decided to offer the Sunderland boss a two-year contract to guide England through the 2018 World Cup.

Eriksson, who held the post from 2001 to 2006, said that Allardyce's impressive club record of never being relegated from the Premier League stands him in good stead.

"Sam has been there for a long, long time and he's done a good job wherever he's been," he told Sky Sports News. "He's very organised so that will be a very organised team I suppose. So why not? Good luck, Sam.

"If you take a team from the lower part of the table, you have to adapt what you want to do. You have to defend and be organised or you will go down. So I think it depends on the situation, whether you have a top team, a middle team or a bottom team. Many times Sam has managed a team that has been struggling for survival and he has done the job.

"I don't think Sam needs any advice. I know that for many years he has wanted that job. He knows the English press well and that is the least pleasant part of the job. But he will do a good job. I hope so. I'm sure he will."

Allardyce takes over managing the England side from Roy Hodgson, who quit last month following a disappointing Euro 2016 campaign.