England manager, Thomas Tuchel has warned his team to “not misinterpret” their previous win over Serbia.
Having wrapped up qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a 5-0 victory away to Latvia in October, England now conclude their qualifying campaign with dead rubbers against Serbia and Albania on 13 and 16 November.
Tuchel however has warned his England squad not to take their 5-0 away victory against Serbia in September for granted after their manager, Dragan Stojkovic resigned in October and was replaced by Veljko Paunovic who is taking charge of his country for the first time at Wembley Stadium, London.
“It’s always up to us and I think we did in the last match and we will try to do it again. I think we will face a very patriot Serbian team with a very patriotic new coach – a coach that is used to tournament football with the Serbian under-20s; he’s used to club football in a high quality Spanish league.
“I think from the way he talks, when I see the line up and the players, where they play and which clubs they play [at], they compete at the highest level.”
“I think we should not misinterpret the 5-0 as an easy match, what we did there. We will remind the players of the hard work and the effort that we put in to make a result like this possible and we have to do it again.
“On top of it, for them, it’s basically a final so I think we will see the best side of them which is a strong side. This is what we prepare for. Then the stadium will hopefully follow.”
England could be without Marc Guehi due to a foot injury which kept him out of Crystal Palace’s goalless draw against Brighton in the Premier League, with Tuchel describing his injury as “very, very painful” despite no serious damage and is preparing tactically without him for the Serbia game.
“There is a possibility that from one day to the other, overnight we have a significant improvement. We’re working realistically towards the second game.”
Tuchel offered assurances to Palace fans that Guehi won’t be risked if he doesn’t train ahead of their flight to Albania on Saturday 14 November, and will instead return to Palace for further treatment despite his positive presence in the squad hence why he joined up with the squad.
“If he is not in training, let’s say on Friday and not able to train with us on Saturday, we will not make him travel with us and he gets the rest and treatment and can stay in London.
“He wants to stay with us and we wanted him to stay close. He is one of the leaders, he’s an important member of the team and important glue between many players.
“He tries everything to be included in the second match and we wanted to have the opportunity and that’s why we assess him basically every day.”
With attention now slowly turning to the World Cup next summer, Tuchel is refusing to get drawn on the preparation in knowledge that injuries and form can change his plans and is instead focused on the final two qualifiers.
“I know quite a lot about tomorrow but about May and June, I don’t know so much. I hold myself back of knowing too much or pretending to know so much or even too much focused. So much can happen.
“Nobody wants injuries to happen but injuries can happen, players can pull out, players can drop in form, other players can have form, so I’m very much open for the next months.
“That’s why I don’t feel the pressure and I don’t feel the World Cup urge at the moment. I just feel the excitement and the pressure for tomorrow because we want to perform. As always, it’s step by step and the next step is Serbia tomorrow.”
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