Slovenia captain Robert Koren has warned England that his side will not be scared when the two sides meet in their crunch Group C game on Wednesday. (Slovenia 15/2 to win)

Slovenia opened their campaign with a victory against Algeria and were eight minutes away from sealing their spot in the last eight against the USA, but the Americans hit back through Michael Bradley to seal a 2-2 draw, leaving every side in Group C with a chance of qualifying.

However, the Slovenians currently top the group on four points and know a point could see them though to the knockout stages in a major competition for the first time in their history. (Slovenia 5/2 to qualify)

Koren said: “It was a big achievement for the country to come to the World Cup but now everybody wants to improve.

“When we arrived in South Africa we said we wanted to go through the group stage and we are full of confidence that we can. We already expected before the tournament to go through the group stage, and this is still the same. ”

England have so far disappointed in the tournament, drawing both their games and have played poorly on both occasions, and are now in desperate need of a victory against their unfancied opponents.

The Slovenain captain is currently without a club but has spent the last three years in England playing with West Browich Albion and was an integral part of their successful promotion campaign last season.  He will now be looking to impress potential suitors and is determined that his side will not roll over and die against the Three Lions.

“We all know that England is a really good team with big players in their squad, but we are not thinking too much about England, we will concentrate on ourselves and the way we want to play,” said the midfielder.

“The first game, England versus the United States, England played OK, we saw some good things and bad things – it was the same in the second game against Algeria. England didn’t show the football we expected.”