England must set tone - Terry - Sport in brief

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The Croatians have adopted an aggressive approach towards England in recent previous meetings, including their 3-2 win at Wembley two years ago and even when beaten 4-1 at home last September.

Terry is expecting a similar style on Wednesday and said: "I think the importance of that first 10-15 minutes cannot be over-stressed. From a personal point of view, the last game in Zagreb was very physical. They set the tone of the game early on. That is what we need to do."

He added: "I think for the first 15 minutes we need to be aggressive and match them. When the ball does get down and we start playing I think we've seen we can match a lot of the teams in the world.

"But physically, as we do at Chelsea, you go out to win your battles early on. That's key; that can set the tone of the game."

The circumstances of the tie will have a major bearing on tactics, Terry points out.

"They have to win, so we have to make sure we are organised and very patient as well and soak up a lot of the pressure they are going to try and pile on early on - which they did over there," he added.

"If we can do that, with the quality we have got going forward, we can always score goals."

England have a 100% record from their opening seven qualifiers, and Terry would like England to finish their group with an unblemished record.

He said: "To win all 10 qualifiers, that is the ideal situation. We all realise we are still not qualified, and Croatia is going to be a tough game. I don't think it is really a revenge situation - although with what happened in the last game against Croatia at Wembley, there is a little bit of that."