England 'too self-confident', says Croatia coach Bilic

England were too self-confident going into their qualifying campaign for Euro 2008, according to Croatia coach Slaven Bilic.

If Russia win in Israel on Saturday, Steve McClaren's team will be all but eliminated from next summer's finals in Austria and Switzerland.

But Bilic, whose team are top of Group E and play England next Wednesday, told the BBC in an interview: "The group was difficult.

"Maybe your (England's) approach was a little bit too self-confident in this campaign."

England were placed in their perilous position after losing 2-1 to Russia last month in Moscow. They also lost 2-0 away to Croatia and recorded scoreless draws with Macedonia and Israel.

Bilic, who was a defender in the English Premiership with West Ham and Everton, believes England underestimated the other teams in their group.

"It is not easy to come to Croatia and to get something from a game," he said. "It is not easy to play in Russia. It is not easy to play Macedonia.

"And it's very difficult to play in Tel Aviv. So maybe you were expecting you were to cruise the group, but it's a very difficult group."

But Bilic had some words of support for under-fire McClaren, whose future as England coach will surely hinge on his team's qualification or not.

"As a club manager you need a couple of years to make or build a team," Bilic said.

"In a national team you need three or four years because you do not have them every day. You have them once a month for five days.

"It's not Steve McClaren's fault and I really feel for him and hope he is going to continue."