Thankyou Israel

And the home side rewarded patriotic punters who had backed the Israeli’s to avoid defeat against Guus Hiddink’s men.

Ladbrokes spokesman, Nick Weinberg, said: “We saw a patriotic plunge on Israel and the backers who never stopped believing have got their reward. Surely not even England can fail to get the point they need against a Croatia side who have already qualified.”

England can now be backed to top the group at 2.74 (1.74/1) with Betfair.

Alex McLeish is 2.10 (11/10) not to be in charge of Scotland for the start of their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign after his side lost 2-1 to Italy.

Weinberg added: “There are bound to be plenty of clubs eyeing up McLeish given what he’s achieved with Scotland.”