Bilic claims Croatia have edge on Capello’s England

Croatian coach Slaven Bilic has launched an attack on England ahead of Wednesday's World Cup qualifier between the two nations at Wembley, which would see England advance to the tournament in South Africa next year should they win.

Bilic claims that Fabio Capello's side, who have won seven games from seven to date in Group Six, including a memorable 4-1 win against Croatia in their Zagreb citadel courtesy of a Theo Walcott hat-trick, possess weaknesses that his side will exploit this week.

"They are missing some Englishness, some of the things that have always made England teams difficult to defend against and play against," said Bilic, who used to play for West Ham and is a big fan of the domestic game. "All I will say is that they are definitely missing something and we know what it is. But of course I am not going to tell you now what it is. It is our secret."

Whether Bilic is indeed sitting on a nugget of information which has hitherto escaped most managers and observers of the England team, who were competent if sloppy during their 2-1 warm-up win over Slovenia on Saturday at Wembley, he knows that he will need something special to defeat Capello's men.

Croatia eked out a 1-0 win against Belarus at the weekend to remain four points behind England in Group six having played an extra game, and were deeply average in the game. To make matters worse for Bilic, he lost Spurs defender Vedran Corluka to a red card that will keep him out of Wednesday's game.

The youthful Croatian manager has attempted to make some play out of the fact that the last time the two sides met at Wembley, the visitors ran out 3-2 winners in a game that kept England out of the 2008 European Championships and also saw their manager Steve McLaren sacked.

"The scar for them is there," he told journalists yesterday, "but unfortunately I can't count on that. There is not a fear of Croatia. We did not beat them 10 times in a row but, having said that, we are the only team in the world to have done it twice. We did it one after the other and that's important."

Meanwhile his English counterpart criticised his team for losing concentration late in the game on Saturday and allowing the Slovenians a consolation goal in the last few minutes.

"I was not happy to concede a late goal because the concentration was not good in the last four or five minutes," said Capello after the Slovenia match. "I want the players to focus and concentrate on every minute of the game. I was not happy about that."

Capello then gave a warning to his squad that Glenn Johnson and Joleon Lescott, the two defenders at fault for the late goal, would do well to heed. "Sometimes I shout. But this time absolutely not. I will explain what I want them to do - if they want to stay with me." ·