"BEWARE the relaxed Greeks," was the warning message from Clarets goalkeeper Nik Michopoulos before he flew home for a short break this week.

The 31-year-old had hoped that he would be involved in the squad that will take on England in the final World Cup qualifier on Saturday.

But instead he will be watching the match with his friends and family in Thesolonika and wondering what reaction he will get when he returns to training.

"The lads have been having lots of jokes with me and Dimitri (Papadopoulos) and Luigi (Cennamo) in training and in the dressing room," he said.

"We all know that England has got a better team than Greece with better players but this is just the type of game that Greek players can do well in.

"They have got no pressure on them, the only team with pressure is England. That means that the Greek side can relax, they have no worries and they can just go out and play.

"It is very good news for the Greek team that Michael Owen is not playing but we know that there are lots of good players in the England team. You have got players like Heskey and Beckham.

"But we have got some good players too like Zagorakis, who used to be at Leicester, Nikolaidis who plays for AEK Athens and Machlas from Ajax."

The Greek squad also features a number of players from the country's two representatives in the Champions' League.

"I am sure that Greek football is getting better," Michopoulos said.

"Last week Panathanaikos beat Arsenal 1-0 and Olympiakos will be a hard match for Manchester United next week in the Champions' League.

"It is just a shame we did not do so well in the World Cup group.

"Greece got to the World Cup finals in America in 1994 and it was great for the country.

"It is a big disappointment we will not qualify this time.

"I think some of the problems come in the organisation of the national team and there is a lot of hard work to be done."

Michopoulos has won 13 caps for the senior side and he had hoped that his role in Burnley's bright start to the season would help him force his way back into the squad.

His problem has been lack of exposure as he admitted: "The national manager (Otto Rehhagel) has said he has never seen me play in England but he has told me he will try to get to a game soon, maybe the next one against Nottingham Forest.

"I want to get back into the squad and I can do that by playing well for Burnley."

Before the big match on Saturday, the England Under-21s are in action at Ewood Park tomorrow night and Michopoulos is hoping for a big performance from his Turf Moor team mate Dimitri Papadopoulos.