Bilic brands England overconfident

Slaven Bilic, the Croatia coach, has identified overconfidence as the principal reason behind England's struggle to qualify for Euro 2008. As things stand, England's hopes of qualifying for the finals in Austria and Switzerland next summer hang by a thread, with Steve McClaren's side needing other results to go their way this weekend if the Croatia game at Wembley on Wednesday night is to offer a chance of salvation.

It is a predicament far removed from the optimism that originally greeted the Group E draw, and Bilic, whose side currently lie three points clear of England at the top of the table, believes that McClaren and his players might have underestimated the strength of their qualifying rivals. "The group was difficult," said Bilic. "Maybe your approach was a little bit too self-confident in this campaign, because it is not easy to come to Croatia and to get something from a game. It is not easy to play in Russia. It is not easy to play Macedonia. And it's very difficult to play in Tel Aviv. So maybe you were expecting you were to cruise the group, but it's a very difficult group."

Despite his misgivings about England's attitude to qualifying, Bilic endorsed McClaren's managerial credentials. He added: "As a club manager you need a couple of years to make or build a team. In a national team you need three or four years because you do not have them every day. You have them once a month for five days. It's not Steve McClaren's fault and I really feel for him and hope he is going to continue."