ESTONIAN international Sander Puri believes his country are capable of causing an upset against England during qualification for the 2016 European Championship.

York City winger Puri, who has won 55 caps for Estonia, is relishing the chance to tackle the Three Lions brigade with the first match taking place in Tallinn this October and the return match at Wembley 12 months later.

When the two nations last met, during England’s ill-fated 2008 European Championship campaign, Steve McClaren’s side won both matches 3-0.

But, since then during Puri’s international career, the former Soviet state have beaten Belgium, Uruguay and Poland, drawn with Holland, Portugal, Croatia and Turkey and reached play-offs of the last European Championships, where they were eliminated by the Republic of Ireland.

On the prospects of shocking the group ‘E’ favourites, Puri said: “England are the biggest side but we have beaten big teams in the past so why shouldn’t we take points off England?

“We will be looking to make progress during our friendlies this summer and, while playing England will be tough, we will be ready for it.”

With the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole possibly heading for retirement after this summer’s World Cup finals, Puri reckons Estonia could face an England side in the early throes of a transitional period but does not feel that would necessarily enhance his team’s prospects.

He reasoned: “There is talk of a lot of England’s young players getting their chance in this group but, maybe, that will make the team even stronger.

“I think the young Liverpool players - Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge - are in top form at the moment and you have good strikers.

“Everyone knows England have to improve but they are still England and are one of the best teams in the world.”

Switzerland, Slovenia, Lithuania and San Marino complete the line-up for Group E and Puri is optimistic that Estonia can finish third in the final standings to secure a play-off place or earn automatic qualification for the France tournament with the best third-placed record.

The 25-year-old midfielder added: “It’s an okay draw for us.

“England are the favourites, of course.

“Then, you have got Switzerland and Slovenia, who we have beaten in a previous group so we know we can do it again. Lithuania is a derby for us and San Marino are the smallest team who you have to take six points off.

“I think we have a chance of getting in those top three places and, realistically, third position would be very good for us.

“If somebody offered us that now, we would take it.”

Puri, who has played Holland in the Amsterdam Arena and represented his country in France and Italy, also revealed that playing at England’s world-famous home stadium carries the same attraction it always has done for visiting countries.

“Wembley is a big stadium and there will be a massive crowd,” he enthused.

“It’s one of those dreams you have to play against England at Wembley.

“Both matches should be great occasions because Estonian people love coming to England and English people love coming to Estonia, so I don’t think you can get a bigger game in my country.”

Puri currently finds it easier to get into his national team than his club side - definitely a novel situation at Bootham Crescent.

Out of favour under manager Nigel Worthington, he has only managed 13 minutes of game time in four months as a second-half substitute against Dagenham back in January.

But, with another season still left to run on his Minstermen contract, Puri is hoping there is time to establish himself in North Yorkshire to increase his chances of being involved against his adopted country this autumn.

“I haven’t played here for a while but I am still working hard and want to get my chance to prove myself,” Puri said.

“I want to still be in that squad for when Estonia play England.

Puri played the last 25 minutes of Estonia’s 2-0 friendly win in Gibraltar this month and, while impressed with the hosts’ hospitality, the City substitute is not predicting glorious times ahead for the 2.6 square-mile British overseas’ territory against the likes of Germany, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Poland in their first-ever European qualifying campaign.

On his Gibraltar trip, Puri added: “I got some playing time, we won and I got an assist, so it was good.

They are a very small country but they were great.

“They played for their fans and it’s a lovely place.

“I don’t see that they have a chance of getting through but their first championship will be a good experience for them and I wish them all the best.”

 

Kingpin Keith’s kick ahead

KEITH Lowe is five points clear at the top of The Press Player of the Year standings.

The defender was our man of the match in the 1-0 win at Mansfield to earn another three points. Josh Carson got two points with one to John Mc- Combe. The two Player of the Month bonus points - via visitors to our website or @daveflettpress Twitter followers - were shared by Russell Penn and Carson.

For the 1-0 win at AFC Wimbledon, The Press points went to man-of-the-match Michael Coulson (three), Penn (two) and Ben Davies (one). Coulson also Kingpin Keith’s kick ahead DaveFlett Focus on York City collected the Player of the Month bonus points.

To have a chance of presenting The Press Player of the Month for March with a framed photograph at Bootham Crescent, vote for your man of the match from today’s game or tweet @daveflettpress

The Press Player of the Year standings: Lowe 28 points, Carson 23, Fletcher 21, Oyebanjo 19, McGurk 18, McCombe 14, O’Neill 14, Brobbel 11, Montrose 11, Coulson 9, Jarvis 9, Parslow 8, Ingham 7, Penn 7, Pope 7, Smith 7, Davies 6, Bowman 5, Chambers 5, Clay 4, Puri 2, Whitehouse 2, Kettings 1, Reed 1.

The Press Player of the Month for March standings: McCombe 6, Coulson 5, Lowe 5, Carson 3, Penn 3, Davies 1, Reed 1.

Goals: Fletcher 13, Jarvis 9, Bowman 7, Carson 4, Brobbel 3, Coulson 3, McCombe 3, Own goals 2, McGurk 1, Montrose 1, O’Neill 1.

Assists: Coulson 7, Bowman 6, Carson 5, O’Neill 5, Brobbel 3, Fletcher 3, Jarvis 3, Clay 2, Hayhurst 2, McGurk 2, Oyebanjo 2, Smith 2, Cresswell 1, Davies 1, Fyfield 1, Ingham 1, Montrose 1.

Bad boys: Montrose ten yellow cards; Oyebanjo, Whitehouse both six yellow; Carson five yellow; Bowman two red, two yellow; O’Neill, Lowe, Smith all four yellow; McGurk three yellow; Cresswell one red, one yellow; Davies, Fyfield, Hayhurst, Jarvis, McCombe, Penn, Platt all two yellow; Chambers, Clay, Coulson, Parslow, Reed all one yellow.