Montenegrins on England scouting mission

Montenegro will be spying on England in Switzerland this week even if Fabio Capello is not putting a similar watch on them.

England, who began their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with an impressive 4-0 win over Bulgaria on Friday, are not thought to have sent anyone to watch group rivals Montenegro and Wales play simultaneously in Podgorica.

Montenegro deservedly won that game 1-0 to open their campaign in style and put themselves in good heart for their second Group G match in Bulgaria tomorrow.

And while that game in Sofia is going on, coach Zlatko Kranjcar intends to have someone reporting back from England’s clash with the Swiss in Basle in readiness for games against both teams next month.

Kranjcar, who led Croatia to the 2006 World Cup, said: “We will have men in Basle to watch the England game.

“We know them very well from their games against Croatia in the (last) World Cup qualifiers but we will worry about them when the time is right.

“Our performance will bring some attention on us for the rest of the qualifiers, but I stick to what I said before that England are the group favourites and Switzerland second best.

“But Wales, Bulgaria and Montenegro also have that chance to fight for the second position.”

When told England did not have a representative present in Podgorica last Friday, Kranjcar – father of Tottenham player Niko – said: “I am not really surprised because we play England in October and they will probably find time to get a DVD copy before that – but I am not ruling out the possibility somebody was at the stadium under cover!”