Capello not interested in video nasty

Fabio Capello admitted he has not watched a video of England's dismal showing against Croatia two years ago as he strives to topple Slaven Bilic's side in Wednesday night's World Cup qualifier in Zagreb.

England were beaten 2-0 in the Maksimir Stadium when the then head coach Steve McClaren opted to play a 3-5-2 formation in a game which will be remembered for Paul Robinson's blunder which led to the second and decisive goal.

"If you study a video, you can see only one part of the pitch. It is not enough. I prefer to watch live games of Croatia." Capello said.

He added: "On tape it is difficult to understand what has happened, why a player is suddenly free, how did the counter-attack come about etc, because there is too little you can see."

Capello has seen brief highlights but has instead chosen to focus on how Croatia are performing circa 2008 via the European Championship finals rather than re-run that night to forget in October 2006.

The former Real Madrid coach added: "I saw Croatia three times during the summer and it is a strong team.

"They play fantastic counter-attacking football. We will have to stay in good positions always on the pitch. That is very important.

"If you are not balanced on the pitch, they are a very dangerous team on the counter-attack.

"I know what happened two years ago but I haven't watched a tape of the game. For me, I always prefer to watch the teams direct on the pitch."