Montenegro won’t roll over

The minnows of Montenegro sent a warning to england by beginning their euro 2020 campaign with a creditable draw in Sofia.

Stefan Mugosa scored the opener after 50 minutes to give his nation of only 600,000 people a huge lift ahead of england’s visit to Podgorica on Monday, even though the hosts levelled through Todor Nedelev’s disputed penalty.

Southgate will note how Mugosa turned two Bulgaria defenders inside the penalty area before planting a low finish into the bottom right-hand corner.

Bulgaria rescued a point on 82 minutes after a foul that replays appeared to show was made outside the box by Vladimir Jovovic on Stanislav Kostov.

The Brave Falcons, as Montenegro’s team are known, lived up to their nickname. Without their best- known players, former Manchester City pair Stefan Jovetic and Stefan Savic, the visitors showed plenty of defensive resilience before taking the lead.

Levante midfielder Nikola Vukcevic fed a pass into Mugosa, who did the rest.

Montenegro, No 46 in the FIFA rankings, have held england to a draw in three of their four previous encounters, and will certainly not be pushovers on Monday.