Kranjcar: Montenegro no Wembley tourists
BELGRADE, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Montenegro are not travelling to London for a shopping trip and will be ready to pounce on any England mistakes in their Euro 2012 Group G qualifier, coach Zlatko Kranjcar said.
Montenegro are full of confidence after three wins in a row put them top of the table. They have nine points from three games, ahead of England who have six from two and Bulgaria who have three from as many games after a 1-0 win in Wales.
Kranjcar, who steered his native Croatia to the 2006 World Cup finals, believes the Montenegrins - who beat Switzerland 1-0 at home in their capital Podgorica on Friday - can produce another good performance at Wembley on Tuesday.
"England are still the favourites to win the group but we are not going to London as shopping tourists, we will be looking to prove our worth and get something out of this game," he told Montenegrin media.
"This team has the capacity to capitalise on any blunders England might make so we won't just roll over.
"We have shown against the Swiss that we are capable of playing good football against tough opponents and that 1-0 wins over Wales and Bulgaria were no fluke."
Kranjcar said the team had adapted seamlessly to his 4-3-2-1 formation, with Mirko Vucinic spearheading the attack and scoring with a superb solo effort to down the Swiss.
Montenegro, a tiny Adriatic republic with a population of just over 620,000, had a bumpy 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign under Zoran Filipovic, when they won just one of their 10 games and finished second-bottom in their group.
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But they look a different side with Kranjcar at the helm after the Croatian took over in February.
"The players have accepted my vision and performed with the utmost commitment and professionalism, hence we now believe we are good enough to at least finish runners-up in the group and clinch a playoff berth," Kranjcar said.
"Vucinic was outstanding against Switzerland and so were the back four, marshalled superbly by our goalkeeper Mladen Bozovic.
"The fans were fantastic and played a key role in the victory, it felt as if there were four times as many of them in the terraces."