Fabio Capello faces the first serious test of his reign as England manager against Croatia this evening, but he made the remarkable declaration last night that the hostile atmosphere of the Maksimir Stadium holds fewer fears for his team than playing in front of their own supporters at Wembley.

Since taking charge in January, Capello has occasionally hinted at an anxiety that afflicts the team when they play in the capital, but here he went considerably farther, suggesting that the 90,000-capacity stadium - or, rather, the restless home supporters inside - posed more of a psychological hurdle to his players than returning for a World Cup qualifying match to Zagreb, where they lost 2-0 in October 2006 in their ill-fated European Championship campaign under Steve McClaren.

As if to emphasise that this is the start of a brave new era, Capello is giving serious consideration to using Theo Walcott, Joe Cole and Wayne Rooney, his most talented forwards, and recalling Rio Ferdinand, who is fit again, Wes Brown and David Beckham. That would represent a considerable gamble at a ground where Croatia have not lost in 35 competitive matches, but it would be one based on bravery rather than trepidation.

“I hope that we will play with courage, not fear,” Capello said. “We will play like a team. We know Croatia never lose at home, but I’m sure that England’s players will play better than at home because when we play at Wembley, sometimes the crowd whistle at the first mistake. At this moment, I think the players play better away from home. They play with more confidence, so here it will be different.

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The Croatia result will decide whether the concept of Capello as manager flies or not

Martin Samuel

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“I think we have worked very well for these nine, ten days and I see the players having a lot of confidence. They are are getting better day by day and I am sure that tomorrow night we will be OK and we will perform.

“Of course, you have to pay big attention to the counter-attack of Croatia. I think they are also very dangerous from free kicks and corners.”

The squad trained at the Maksimir last night, but Capello, as ever, was keeping his players guessing before informing them of his starting lineup at the team hotel today. After the doors were closed to the public and media, the Italian tried out a number of formations, but the one option he explored at length was with Walcott, the Arsenal teenager, and Cole operating behind Rooney in attack.

Beckham was also heavily involved, joining Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry in a three-man central midfield, but so, too, at different times, were Jermaine Jenas and Emile Heskey.

One thing that Capello will not be doing is fielding three central defenders, as McClaren did here two years ago. “They played three centre backs and usually all English teams play a back four,” the manager said. “I think that it is better to play that way, with only four defenders, not five.”

One of those defenders will be Ferdinand, who trained without discomfort yesterday after missing the 2-0 victory over Andorra in Barcelona on Saturday because of a back injury. With Beckham also hoping to return, it promises to be an evening for wise old heads in defence and midfield.

“We have a lot of players with a lot of experience, some who have played in the Champions League final,” Capello said. “We have to play like a group, like a team. This is very important. It’s not about individual players. Every player has to play for the team.”

After five friendly matches and a perfunctory victory over Andorra, this is by far the most serious examination of Capello’s England, but he was eager to dismiss the suggestion that his regime would stand or fall by the result this evening.

“It’s the second game of the group,” Capello said. “This is an important game psychologically because we lost the last two games against them, but we also play against Ukraine and Belarus in this group and it’s important that we win those matches.

“You can make conclusions if you like, but for me the road is very long, very, very long.”