England's head coach Fabio Capello has warned against underestimating Bulgaria ahead of the Euro 2012 qualifier on Friday, September 2.

Capello said Monday he wanted to get six points from England's next month's Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Wales, as cited by The Guardian.

"Bulgaria and Wales are really important games for us," said the England coach. "We play the last game against Montenegro and need to be top of the group before that one because it will be a really difficult game."

His goal is to make sure England's final qualifier in Montenegro on October 7 does not turn into a must-win occasion. England are currently level on points with Montenegro at the head of Group G.

However, England have two matches during the forthcoming internationals, and Montenegro only have one.

The Guardian says that "the omens are good" for England who have not lost in nine previous meetings with Bulgaria. The paper reminds the English crushed Bulgaria 4:0 at Wembley in September 2010 in a Euro 2012 qualifier.

"The stadium, the pitch, the fans will be really strong, which is why we need to do well in our next matches. In our last match against Bulgaria, we played a good game but I remember it well and they got some chances as well," Gapello is quoted saying.

"They [Bulgaria] have a lot of quality and are good with free-kicks and shots from distance. In fact, although we scored four goals, we actually had more chances against Montenegro, when we didn't score. It was just that the keeper made the difference," he added.

The Guardian stresses that it was Bulgaria's failure to overcome Montenegro in Sofia that highlighted from where the main challenge for England to a place at Euro 2012 would come.

Since then, Germany legend Lothar Matthaeus has taken over the role of head coach and has presided over just one loss in his five games in charge, in a friendly against Belarus earlier this month, the paper says.

"With Manchester United's Dimitar Berbatov resisting calls to come out of retirement, Matthaeus is relying on the return of the Aston Villa midfielder Stilian Petrov to rouse a team for whom discipline remains a problem; eight members of the squad were fined for breaking a curfew prior to the Belarus defeat," The Guardian says in its Monday's article.

Capello is expected to name Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard in central midfield, as Steven Gerrard and Jack Wilshere have both been ruled out through injury, and of the Manchester United youngsters called up on Sunday, Chris Smalling seems most likely to start, at right-back, ahead of Micah Richards, it explains.

Bulgaria are fourth out of 5 teams in qualifying Group G for the Euro 2012 championship after poor performances throughout the past year.

England are first with 11 points, followed by Montenegro, also with 11. Switzerland are third with 5 points – as many as Bulgaria – and Wales are 5th with 0 points.

With two matches left at home against England in September and Wales in October, Bulgaria have only theoretical chances to make it to the second spot in Group G that can give them the opportunity to fight for a place at Euro 2012.

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