C team touch down

Bosnia & Herzegovina A2 v England C
International Friendly
The Grbavica Stadium, Sarajevo,
4.30pm, Tuesday 16 September 2008

The England C party finally arrived in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo 24 hours late after a nightmare journey from London for their friendly game with Bosnia & Herzegovina. 

The problems began on Sunday night when the party arrived in Vienna to find that their connecting flight to Sarajevo had been cancelled due to bad weather. After a night in an airport hotel and a 5am wake-up call, the group took to the air but after two aborted landings they found themselves back in Vienna.

There then followed some frantic negotiations by Leagues Manager Mike Appleby to find an alternate route as the airport in Sarajevo closed for the day.

Luckily, he managed to find seats on a flight to Split in Croatia and upon arrival there followed a six- hour coach trip to Sarajevo. The group finally arrived at their hotel base at 9.15pm, some 16 hours after that wake-up call, and it was hardly ideal preparation for this afternoon's match.

The squad which has travelled shows four changes to the original. John Brayford's move to Crewe on transfer deadline day and Danny Gleeson's earlier injury have meant recalls for Wrexham's Darran Kempson and Oxford United's Matt Day.

An injury to Russell Penn on Saturday and Carl Tremarco's decision to remain at home to await the birth of his first child led to call-ups for Grays Athletic's Stefan Bailey and Mark Wright, currently at Thurrock.

Follow the fortunes of the side later today on TheFA.Com


England C Squad