Southgate hopes for no disruption

17 September 2014 09:16

England Under-21 coach Gareth Southgate hopes UEFA's insistence on an earlier 5:45pm kick-off for the first leg of their European Championship play-off against Croatia will not impact on fans being able to get to Molineux.

The Young Lions finished top of Group 1, undefeated with nine wins from their 10 matches conceding just two goals and so were among the seeds for the play-off draw.

The Football Association had requested the fixture, which takes place 24 hours after England's Euro 2016 qualifier against San Marino at Wembley, kick off at the normal slot of 7:45pm evening slot. However, governing body UEFA ruled all matches must start no later than 6:45pm Central European Time to avoid clashes with any of the other senior ties elsewhere in Europe - which include Netherlands versus Kazakhstan, Italy versus Azerbaijan and Wales against Bosnia- Herzegovina .

Despite the somewhat awkward scheduling, Southgate hopes England supporters will nevertheless be able to make it to Wolves, with tickets priced at £10 and £5 for concessions.

"It is a very important game for us and I am delighted Wolves have agreed to host it. Molineux is a special stadium with fantastic fans, and it would be great to a get a big crowd to support the team against strong opposition," Southgate said.

"We would have preferred to kick-off later, but I hope that supporters from across the Midlands will still be able to get to the game as we look to qualify for next summer's finals in the Czech Republic."

England will play the second leg away to Croatia, who edged Group 5 ahead of the Ukraine, on Tuesday October 13.

Source: PA