ContinueRoy Hodgson has insisted that England will not be taking their 2014 World Cup qualifying group lightly, as he starts to assemble his squad for the fixture against Moldova on September 7th.
England will kick off their campaign away to the European minnows, but Hodgson has warned that he will not underestimate any of the group H sides, despite England being heavy favourites to qualify on top.
"The important thing is that we don't underestimate anybody," said the England boss in a home nations press conference, which saw Craig Levein, Chris Coleman and Michael O'Neill discussing their respective campaigns.
"In England every opponent can be regarded by the general public as easy to beat and we all know that is not the case.
"The other thing is that the campaign lasts about 15-16 months. You don't know what's going to happen during the course of that time. The most important thing is to concentrate on your own team.
"In our group we will be regarded the favourites, but on the other hand there will be a lot of teams taking points from each other, so you've got to make sure you keep your head and keep plugging away because you don't know where other teams are going to drop their points."
Hodgson will be embarking on his first qualifying campaign with England, after being installed as Fabio Capello's replacement just weeks before the 2012 European Championships.
The former West Brom and Fulham manager has been lauded for his meticulous approach to the new role, and has already been on fact-finding missions to Brazil to discuss potential bases for England, should they reach the 2014 World Cup finals.
When asked about his approach to squad selections, Hodgson effused the same rationale, but conceded that the dominance of club football would ultimately have a bearing on his qualifying squads.
"We're all picking a national team from teams which are playing at a high level, especially in the Premiership, where you've got the added Champions League and Europa League.
"You never know what is your best team, or what players you will have available at any one time. For me it will be a case of taking it one match at a time."
