Bulgaria head west with hopes high

Bulgaria coach Alexandre Stankov had "some sparkles of hope" after naming his squad for the Group 3 away games against England and the Republic of Ireland.

'Spirits are up'
A 1-0 win against Portugal in their most recent qualifier has given Bulgaria some reason for optimism in their UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying campaign after defeats in their opening two games, but Stankov remains cautious. "After the victory against Portugal last month I have some sparkles of hope and the boys' spirits are up, but we know it will be difficult for us," he said. "Both England and the Ireland are very strong sides with players from the English Premier League but we play well away and I am relatively optimistic. If we get four points from these two games, we will be back in the reckoning." Forward Ivelin Popov will miss the England game on Friday through suspension.

Bulgaria squad
Goalkeepers: Nikolay Mihailov (FC Twente), Iliya Nikolov (PFC Litex Lovech).

Defenders: Ivan Bandalovski (PFC Litex Lovech), Atanas Fidanin (PFC Chernomorets Burgas), Ivan Ivanov (PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv), Nikolai Bodurov (PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad), Andrei Stoev (PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad), Velichko Velichkov (PFC Botev Plovdiv).

Midfielders: Vladimir Gadzhev (OFI Crete FC), Lubomir Bozhinov (PFC Naftex Burgas), Orlin Starokin (PFC Naftex Burgas), Lachezar Baltanov (PFC Levski Sofia), Nikolai Dimitrov (PFC Levski Sofia), Dani Kicki (PFC Lokomiv Plovdiv).

Forwards: Ivelin Popov (PFC Litex Lovech), Daniel Mladenov (PFC Marek Dupnitza), Atanas Kurdov (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Vladislav Mirchev (PFC Spartak Varna), Valeri Domovchiyski (PFC Levski Sofia).