Relaxed England lack a bit of vision

Not only is the match expected to be a walkover for Fabio Capello's millionaires against a team of part-timers, but fans will only be able to see it on pay TV operator Setanta.

Barring a last-minute deal with BBC or ITV, there will not even be highlights available on free-to-air channels so there is a real danger of it being one of the least watched England games of modern times.

Setanta say the terrestrial channels did not offer the right commercial terms to buy the highlights, while sources at BBC and ITV have suggested the Irish broadcaster's asking price was unrealistic.

Whatever happens, for those not travelling to Barcelona, the only live coverage will be limited to Setanta's 3.2million subscribers as it will be for all England's away games during the qualifying campaign.

Setanta also have shared rights with ITV for all England home matches for the next four years.

Since breaking into the Premier League market last year, Setanta's highest viewing figure for football is an average of 728,000 for Manchester United versus Blackburn but they will hope to improve on that for England's crucial trip to Croatia on Wednesday.

The latter match will of course be Fabio Capello's first real test as new coach and he couldn't have wished for a more relaxed atmosphere among his squad.

Given the transfer window, Manchester City's takeover and this week's managerial casualties, it's been a muted build-up to the England double header, and midfielder Gareth Barry says the players have appreciated it.

He said: "It is a bit of a relief that other things have taken the spotlight off us.

"Over the years, the England set-up has normally dominated the newspapers, so it is a nice change really. The players have been able to just focus on the game tomorrow.

"Everyone knows that England fans expect us to do well, which is acceptable, but we realise now that teams across the world are getting better.

"As time has gone on we have found it tougher and tougher, but it's a new start and a new campaign and we are looking forward to being where we should be and playing at the major tournaments."

The preparations may have been a bit more low key, but the Aston Villa midfielder has still not been able to forget the price of failure.

The past year has provided mixed fortunes for the 27-year-old, having finally established himself as a regular in the first team and has also been part of the doomed Euro 2008 campaign.

He added: "It hurts just as much when I lose a game whether it is for club or country. We are professional people and there is pain when you end up on the losing team.

"The defeats against Russia and Croatia hurt me, not just for one day. It sticks with me now."

The absence of Steven Gerrard from both games due to a groin injury should give Capello a welcome respite from trying to find room for the Liverpool midfielder as well as Barry and Frank Lampard.

The trio didn't combine to good effect in the 2-2 friendly against Czech Republic last month, with Gerrard on the left wing while the other two struggled in midfield, but Barry is in no doubt he can form a good understanding with the Chelsea man.

He said: "Frank is a top player. There are no problems playing with any player at this level. The debate about Gerrard and Lampard has gone on and on.

"All you can come back to is that they are two quality footballers who have performed at the highest level for so long.

"In my opinion, there's no problem with those two playing together."