Terry: No regrets over tactics switch

Skipper John Terry insisted England’s new-look formation was not to blame for the 2-0 defeat in Croatia that leaves their European Championship qualifying hopes in the balance.

Coach Steve McClaren opted to revert from a 4-4-2 to a 3-5-2 system but England were second best for long periods as an Eduardo da Silva header and a freak own goal from Gary Neville condemned them to defeat.

England are now level on seven points with Croatia, Macedonia and Israel, whom they have to visit for their next group encounter in March.

Terry said: “We worked on the formation for nine or 10 days solid and the manager asked if we were comfortable with it. No one had a problem with it.

“We take the loss as a team. It’s no one’s fault, especially not the manager’s. There are no regrets.

“We said coming here after only getting a point at the weekend against Macedonia that it was imperative to get a win. We haven’t and we’ve put ourselves in a difficult position but we can’t wait to go again.”