'England will be ready'
Wednesday, 23 June, 2010
Slovenia captain Robert Koren knows what to expect from England on Wednesday.
Click here to see a video of Robert Koren discussing the game.
Slovenia were happy enough just to reach the World Cup, but now they are in South Africa and standing on the verge of a place in the last 16 of the tournament.
It may be that to do it they have to eliminate England when they face The Three Lions on Wednesday in the final Group C game for both sides.
Slovenia might have already have booked their place in the second round but they conceded a two goal lead against the USA to draw 2-2 last time out. Instead, they require one more point from the game in Port Elizabeth against Fabio Capello's side.
Matjaz Kek's team qualified for the World Cup via a dramatic play-off victory over Russia, which captain Robert Koren believes is a sign of their capacity to cause an upset.
"It was a big achievement for the country to come to the World Cup but now everybody wants to improve," said the former West Brom midfielder.
"We all know that England is a really good team with big players in their squad, but we are not thinking too much about England - we will concentrate on ourselves and the way we want to play.
"When we arrived in South Africa we said we wanted to go through the group stage and we are full of confidence that we can. We already expected before the tournament to go through the group stage, and this is still the same."
Slovenia will be without Nejc Pecnik, who broke his ankle after coming on as a substitute against the USA, while central defender Marko Suler is struggling with a rib injury and expected to be replaced to Matej Mavric.
Koren, 29, spent three-and-a-half years playing in England for West Brom before leaving the club at the start of the summer. He spent enough time in the country to know that the Three Lions will be fired up for the clash.
He added: "The first game, England versus the USA, England played okay, we saw some good things and bad things, and it was the same in the second game against Algeria. England didn't show the football we expected, but we all need to know that England will be ready."