England's footballers are shaking, boasts buoyant Croatia boss Bilic

Tonight at Wembley the manager of Croatia can embarrass England in front of their own supporters and nudge Steve McClaren into unemployment. So does he believe that the English will be feeling the pressure today? Of course he does.

Scroll down to read more:

Bilic said. 'Although I think my team are great, it is unbelievable — and I have to be proud — that these couple of nations, England and Russia, are behind us in this group. One is shaking and the other — the Russians — are hoping.

'But we are already in the finals and are relaxed. And we deserve it. Now we can exploit England's shakiness. They are under pressure.'

Sitting in the Croatia team hotel in west London yesterday, Bilic could not have been more relaxed.

Cigarettes were dispensed freely to friends while his son, Leo, hovered close by. This is the type of confidence that comes when you have guided your nation to the finals of Euro 2008 with a game to spare.

Tonight he wants his players to enjoy themselves at the world's most famous stadium. As for the England players, he is intrigued to see how they handle the pressure.

'They are playing such big games for their clubs, so they should cope with it and I think they're going to cope with it,' Bilic said.

'This is what big players want, to play these kind of games. They can frighten players but that is the difference between the [real] players and the players.'

A visit to London represents a chance to see old friends for Bilic, who played for West Ham and then Everton in the 1990s.

He is a former West Ham clubmate of England's Frank Lampard and, as an avid reader of English papers, he is well aware that the Chelsea midfielder is likely to be booed again by his country's mindless minority tonight.

'I don't understand why England fans boo Frank,' he said with genuine irritation. 'It is unbelievable.

'He may play better for Chelsea than England but to say that is because he doesn't want it with England is stupid.

'He is crazy about playing for England. I know this because I have spoken to him about it, so it's not his fault. I would love to have Frank in my team.

'Yes, I suppose it would work for my team if he got booed again but I wouldn't like that. I don't want that. Come on. No way.'

Croatia need to avoid a 2-0 defeat — or one by three clear goals — tonight to ensure their run through Group E ends with Bilic's team looking down on the rest.

Defeat in Macedonia on Saturday came only because of a rain-soaked pitch, he claimed. 'It was like a school pitch,' he said with a smile. 'It was the worst I have seen in 20 years. The result means nothing.'

He suggested yesterday that to head to Austria and Switzerland next summer as group winners is not that important. Nevertheless, he has done his homework.

He said he knew of David Beckham's absence from the starting line-up on Monday and does not appear to be terribly worried if Hollywood's most famous footballer makes an appearance or not.

'I heard this yesterday in our camp in Slovenia,' he said. 'It surprises me a bit but it's kind of a logical option in other ways.

'I am a Beckham fan. He is dangerous, he is a threat but so is Shaun Wright-Phillips in other ways, with his quickness.

'I suppose if you play with one up front, with Crouch, then it's kind of logical for me to play Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole on the flanks, and I don't know about Beckham now.

'Since he left to go to the States, you can't say that he's playing at the top level, lower than average, so I can't judge his fitness and form. But he still has that cross.'

Bilic believes next summer's finals will be a tougher tournament than the World Cup in terms of progressing beyond the first group stage.

'Is there a weak team in it?' he asked rhetorically. 'I don't think so. Maybe Austria. I haven't seen them.'

He admits that he would like to work in the Premier League and that a club job would suit him better.

But his attention remains on the events of this evening. What does he think about England's possible choice of goalkeeper tonight? Stupid question.

'I don't care,' he said with a smile, pointing across the lobby at Niko Kranjcar. 'He is going to score, anyway. Isn't that right, Niko?'