England [ Images ] manager Fabio Capello [ Images ] said his team relished facing Croatia [ Images ] again on Wednesday and would play with more confidence in their Group Six World Cup qualifier in Zagreb than they would at Wembley.

"We know Croatia have never lost a home qualifier but I think when England play at home at this moment they play with not a lot of confidence so I prefer to play away at the moment," the Italian told a news conference on Tuesday.

Capello replaced Steve McClaren after England failed to reach Euro 2008 [ Images ] following two defeats by Croatia but his team were unimpressive in friendlies before labouring to a 2-0 win over Andorra in their first qualifier last Saturday.

However, the coach said the players were upbeat and would be aiming to win the match rather than trying to clinch a point.

"The players are now playing with confidence and I'm sure tomorrow we will play well. I've never in my career played for a draw. We'll play with courage. It's impossible to play here with fear so we'll try to get a positive result."

Croatia's form against England has encouraged local media to make them favourites to secure three wins in a row but Capello dismissed their recent success as a factor in Wednesday's clash.

"I know what happened in the past but I always think about the future," said the Italian. "This is a new game, a new season and the players cannot think about what happened before."

BETTER BALANCED

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic was confident but cautious and told a news conference that compared to when they beat England 3-2 at Wembley last November they were now "more mature, more experienced, better balanced, equally dangerous on both flanks.

"Yes, we're optimistic, we know we have a great opportunity, but we also know we've a great rival coming our way," he added.

"If all our players are at the top of their game, we shall be close to a victory. But if five or six of them underperform, we could lose."

England captain John Terry [ Images ] said his team had also improved.

"We respect them but have no fear of them," he told a news conference. "We've moved forward from a year ago and we need to go into the game with confidence.

"I think the memories of what happened last time -- home and away -- will be enough to get the lads fighting.

"We didn't have that (belief) at Wembley but it's a fresh start for everybody. Everybody's fighting for their place with the new manager."

Capello said he had a full squad to choose from after central defender Rio Ferdinand [ Images ] recovered from the neck injury that kept him out of the Andorra game.