Coach Sean Fleming is hoping some minor tweaking will help his team record a major result when Canada plays England at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico Wednesday (CBC Bold, CBCSports.ca, 6:55 p.m. ET).

"They have a great pace on the English team, which we have to be very aware of and hopefully we can adapt to," Fleming said Tuesday on a media conference call from Pachuca, about 100 kilometres north of Mexico City.

"I am really focused on tweaking a lot of little things we have to do."

Canada lost 3-0 to Uruguay in Sunday's opening match of the tournament. Fleming generally was pleased with his team's performance, but said small, mental errors cost the Canadians.

"We have to really be focused and conscientious for the 90 minutes," he said. "At this level, it was just little moments that we were letting ourselves down.

"I think that is going to be the key, that we make sure we stay focused. They will make mistakes as well. I think we have to be ready to punish them for the mistakes that they make."

Despite the loss, the Canadian team remains in good spirits. Fleming said the score against Uruguay didn't reflect how well Canada played.

"We were very disappointed with our result against Uruguay but we were not disappointed with our performance," he said.

"We reviewed the tape and it confirmed there were a lot of great moments in our game. We realize we have to get better and that's what we have been working on with the kids."

Canada will play England without star goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau. The 16-year-old from Candiac, Que., will be out at least two weeks after suffering a knee injury in a collision with Uruguay striker Juan Cruz Mascia.

Fleming is still deciding whether Quillan Roberts or Chad Bush, both of Toronto, will start against England.

"The way I look at it, it's an opportunity for someone else," Fleming said.

"They both looked good in training. I look forward to seeing either one of them go forward and have a great performance. We've had injuries before, and others have stepped up and really done a job for us."

Canada is playing in Group C in the 24-team tournament.

In five trips to the under-17 world soccer championship Canada has suffered 13 straight defeats. During that stretch Canada has never earned a point and has been outscored 45-3.

Fleming said his team has a chance to make history.

"We don't look upon it as pressure," he said. "We look at it as a great challenge and a great opportunity to make history."

The tournament runs through July 10 with the round-of-16 knockout matches set for June 29-30, quarter-finals July 3-4 and semifinals July 7.

The top two teams in each of the six groups and the four best third-place teams will advance to the round of 16.

Canada plays Rwanda on Saturday.

England opened with a 2-0 win over Rwanda, but had many chances to make the score even higher.

The strength of the English side lays with Hallam Hope, Raheem Sterling and Nicholas Powell.

Sterling, who joined Queens Park Rangers at 10, has travelled with the Liverpool first team on Europa Cup duty.

Hope, who was born in Manchester, joined Everton at 11. He was England's top scorer in the qualifying round. Powell is currently playing for Crewe Alexandra in Football League Two.

Canada must keep its tempo against England and keep mistakes at a minimum.

"We need to keep up our speed of play and little movements," said Fleming. "That means we will be keeping the ball longer.

"We gave away the ball in some dangerous areas against Uruguay. Teams are going to have chances against us, but I'd rather if they are making their own chances. We have to be very careful taking care of the ball."