Defoe happy to make a point in Croatia

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The Croats completed the double over England to dump them out of Euro 2008 at the qualifying stage and few give England much chance of victory in Zagreb, not least because Croatia have never lost a competitive fixture at the Maksimir Stadium.

"A draw would be a great result in Croatia," he said. "We have to be strong and believe we are going to win because it is a massive game. But the most important thing is to get a result."

A draw would be welcome as Croatia's general record in qualifying tournaments suggests they will not drop many points before the two sides square up again at Wembley in 12 months' time.

Although the Ukraine and, to a slightly lesser extent, Belarus, will be dangerous opponents, particularly on home soil, Slaven Bilic's team seem able to grind out results from tricky away games, as they did in Israel during the European Championships, something England failed to do.

And with only the group winners sure to reach South Africa and one of the nine runners-up not even reaching the play-offs, the margin for error is not great.

Rio Ferdinand's return to training should bolster England's defence but elsewhere there are problems.

Defoe did not do enough in a disappointing 45 minutes in the 2-0 win against Andorra to confidently predict he will hold off Emile Heskey's challenge for a starting berth, while the same is also true of Theo Walcott and David Beckham, even though the Arsenal man lasted slightly longer.

Two-goal Joe Cole is almost certain to replace Stewart Downing, although without injured trio Steven Gerrard, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Carrick, the central area of midfield looks vulnerable defensively.