Montenegro missing four key players for World Cup qualifier with England

Montenegro will miss their captain Mirko Vucinic and at least three other players through injury for their 2014 World Cup qualifier in England, but they still feel they can pull off an upset, acording to the defender Miodrag Dzudovic. As well as Vucinic, the Juventus striker, the goalkeeper Mladen Bozovic, the centre back Marko Basa and midfielder Miodrag Pekovic have also been ruled out while the central defender Dzudovic is doubtful with a back injury and hamstring strain. "It seems we always head into decisive matches decimated by injuries and this is just too much bad luck with the most important game of our careers around the corner," Dzudovic said. "But when the going gets tough, the tough get going. There is no doubt our coach Branko Brnovic will find the right strategy to disguise our chinks and maximise our potential at Wembley." England, who are also at home to Poland in their final game on 15 October, head a delicately balanced Group H with 16 points from eight games, one more than Ukraine and Montenegro and three ahead of the Poles. The Montenegrins, from a tiny Adriatic republic in the Balkans with a population of 625,000, have earned three creditable draws in as many competitive meetings with England. They are at home to Moldova in their final game and Dzudovic acknowledged that avoiding defeat at Wembley would put Montenegro in a good position to take at least a playoff berth. "Of course we are poised to go for a win against England if given the opportunity because we can't just roll over and throw away all the good work we have done in the qualifiers so far," he said. "The most important thing will be to keep a clean sheet and I am sure our forwards will find a way through. With the right attitude and enough self-belief, we can finish in the top two and reach the playoffs." The nine group winners qualify automatically for the 32-nation tournament in Brazil while the eight best runners-up enter the two-leg playoffs for Europe's remaining four berths.

Celtic vs FC Barcelona

Last November, Neil Lennon's men sprung a huge shock at Celtic Park when goals from Victor Wanyama and rookie striker Tony Watt secured a famous 2-1 triumph over the four-time European champions. Messi pulled a late goal back for Barca that night but the Argentinian is set for at least two weeks on the sidelines after injuring his hamstring in Saturday's 2-0 victory at Almeria. His absence is a major blow for the Catalans, with Messi having helped himself to a hat-trick as Barca brushed Ajax aside 4-0 in the Group H opener a fortnight ago to move ahead of Mario Gomez and Filippo Inzaghi by becoming the first player to score four trebles in the competition. However, coach Gerardo Martino has more than enough in reserve to ensure that Barca will still be favourites. Spain international Pedro matched his illustrious team-mate's efforts when he took home the match ball as Rayo Vallecano were dispatched 4-0 a week ago. Messi scored again on Saturday as the Catalan giants claimed a seventh win from as many Liga matches this term against Almeria, but was then withdrawn. Meanwhile, Celtic warmed up for the clash in the best possible manner on Saturday when they bounced back from a shock defeat to Morton in the Scottish League Cup with victory at Kilmarnock. The Scottish champions survived a fightback from their hosts before prevailing 5-2 as Georgios Samaras fired in a hat-trick. Barcelona will once again be without left-back Jordi Alba due to a hamstring problem, while fellow defender Carles Puyol and playmaker Isaac Cuenca are recovering from knee surgery. Celtic are missing close-season arrival Steven Mouyokolo, who ruptured his Achilles in training before the Milan clash.