Croatia v England
UEFA European Championship Qualifying Group E
6pm, Wednesday 7 October 2006
Old Trafford, Manchester
Steve McClaren's England Record - Click here

Paul Robinson says his England side will bounce back from their goalless draw against Macedonia at Old Trafford and remain full of confidence as they prepare to face Croatia in their next game.

Steve McClaren’s side failed to reproduce the form which saw them win their opening three games under his rein and had to contend with just a point against a dogged and determined Macedonia side.

Gary Neville, Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard all had chances to break the deadlock, but they failed to find a way past Macedonia keeper Jane Nikoloski.

Despite the setback, Robinson says there is enough belief in the side to get straight back on the winning trail against Croatia in their next European Championship qualifier on Wednesday night.

Robinson said: “The Macedonia result is a minor hiccup and we want to carry on winning. We are disappointed with the result although we still had chances to win the game.

“We normally start very well but for some reason it just didn’t happen for us against Macedonia.

“We had chances to win the game and if we could have put a couple of them away, it would have obviously been a different story.

“The Croatia game was always going to be tough for us. They have not lost at home for a couple of years and it will be a hard game.

“But we will go there full of optimism and hopefully put in a better performance than the one we showed against Macedonia.”

Robinson believes England should be happy with the start they have made to Group E and are still on course to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals.

Robinson added: “You look at our group and you would take three points at home and a point away from each team. We have done that with Macedonia but the other way around.

“Macedonia are a very good team and I don’t think we give them enough credit. They worked very hard and made things very difficult for us. They are a very well organised and hard working team.

“This was always going to be a tough group with the teams we have been drawn against, but we want to finish top and do really well.”

Archive Details - Click Here

England: 1 Robinson, 2 G. Neville, 3 A. Cole, 4 Gerrard, 5 King, 6 Terry (c), 7 Carrick, 8 Lampard, 9 Rooney (17 Defoe 74), 10 Crouch, 11 Downing (16 Wright-Phillips 70)

Subs: 12 P. Neville, 13 Kirkland, 14 Carragher, 15 Parker, 18 Bent

Macedonia: 1 Nikolovski, 2 Noveski, 3 Petrov, 4 Sedloski (c), 5 I. Mitreski, 6 Sumolikoski, 9 Maznov, 11 Naumoski (20 Stojkov 45), 14 Lazarevski, 6 A. Mitreski, 19 Pandev

Subs: 12 Pacovski, 18 Tasevski, 17 Jancevski, 15 Vasoski, 16 Popov, 10 Sakiri

Referee: Markus Merk (all Germany)
Assistant referees: Heiner Muller, Jan-Hendrik Salver
Fourth official: Knut Kircher

Attendance: 72,062