Saturday 21 May 2016 19:02, UK
Turkey manager Fatih Terim believes England will thrive at Euro 2016 under his 'old friend' Roy Hodgson.
Turkey take on England at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday as both sides warm-up for this summer's tournament in France.
Terim, who is in his third spell in charge of Turkey, rates his opposite number highly and believes the group-stage exit Hodgson presided over at the 2014 World Cup will not be repeated.
"I think England will qualify into the knockout phase comfortably. I don't believe they will have the same disappointments as in previous major tournaments," said the 61-year-old.
"Roy is an old friend of mine and I believe he has made a strong contribution to the English team. Any team coached by him is a really serious opponent to play.
"We have looked at the England team and apart from the defeat to Holland [in March] they have lost almost nothing and took the maximum 30 points from the qualifying group.
"They are a team who concede very few goals but score a lot."
Turkey have never beaten England in 10 attempts and, remarkably, are still awaiting their first goal in the fixture.
Besiktas striker Cenk Tosun will be among the men looking to change that and has highlighted areas his side can look to gain the upper hand.
"We will play to win the game, if we haven't won in the past then this is another chance for us to do it," he said.
"I expect it to be a contest between two of the best teams in Europe. We have analysed England very well and watched videos of their strong points and weak points.
"From what we have seen when opposition teams have a lot of possession in the midfield they can be successful against England and we have also seen their full-backs like to participate in attack so we can use that information."
Turkey, like England, are weakened by the absence of players involved in cup finals elsewhere, with Barcelona's Arda Turan, Borussia Dortmund's Nuri Sahin and Burak Yilmaz of Beijing Guoan all in domestic action.
