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Old November 19th, 2007, 21:48
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Default England v Croatia ... i dread to think !!

Slaven Bilic has promised a clean fight when his Croatia side meet England on Wednesday night.

Bilic, who has experience of playing in England with West Ham and Everton, happily admits he would settle for a draw at Wembley, a result which would see Steve McClaren's side join the Croatians at the finals of Euro 2008 next year.

But the 39-year-old insists there will be no skulduggery involved should the game finish in stalemate.

He said: "I think a point at Wembley is a good result.

"But no-one can adjust themselves to play for a single point.

"So if we manage to get a draw we would be happy. But if that happens, I guarantee everything will be clean."

Croatia made sure of their place in Austria and Switzerland at the weekend despite losing their unbeaten record in Group E with a shock 2-0 defeat against FYR Macedonia.

Bilic is hoping for a reaction at Wembley.

"We are coming to Wembley to play a serious match," he added.

"We want to play our own style as it will be a huge experience for every single Croatian player.

"It is a dream of every football player to play at Wembley, and we'll do our best to present ourselves in the best possible way."

Bilic refused to accept claims Croatia should win, however, especially given the importance of the occasion.

"I must say that no-one can call themselves favourites when they travel to face England at such a legendary stadium," he said.

"Still we'll do our best to keep England far away from our own goal - if it is possible, of course."

The atmosphere in London in midweek is likely to be euphoric if England can get the point they need. However, the mood would have been very different had Israel not beaten Russia on Saturday.

That result put England's qualifying hopes back in their own hands and lifted the pressure on under-fire boss McClaren.

"After the Russian defeat at the hands of Israel, McClaren got what he wanted," said Bilic.

"I think he deserved that kind of luck, as he was so unlucky in this qualification campaign."


(reopens) Striker Mladen Petric is Bilic's only doubt for the match after the Borussia Dortmund frontman reported ill today.

updated by BTD
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