Paul Fairclough's squad finally arrived in Sarajevo for Tuesday's game following a nightmare journey.
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.
England C Squad
Lance Cronin (Ebbsfleet United), Adam Bartlett (Kidderminster Harriers), John Brayford* (Burton Albion), Anton Robinson (Weymouth) , Danny Gleeson** (Cambridge United), Jonathan D'Laryea (Mansfield Town), Luke Foster (Oxford United), Carl Tremarco**** (Wrexham), James Smith (Ebbsfleet United), Russell Penn*** (Kidderminster Harriers), Jamie Stevens (Crawley Town), Richard Brodie (York City), Luke Moore (Ebbsfleet United), Mitchell Cole (Stevenage Borough), Shaun Harrad (Burton Albion), Nathan Arnold (Mansfield Town)
* Replaced by Darran Kempson of Wrexham.
** Replaced by Matt Day of Oxford United.
*** Replaced by Stefan Bailey of Grays Athletic.
**** Replaced by Mark Wright of Thurrock.