Slovakia are approaching their first-ever match against England on Saturday more in hope than expectation.

Their squad has been depleted not only by injuries but by the omission of several overseas-based players who lack match fitness because they are not being picked for their clubs. Morale is also low after losing 3-0 to Turkey in their first qualifier for Euro 2004. Even the striker Robert Vittek of Slovan Bratislava, Slovakia's leading domestic scorer, has admitted that a draw would be a decent result against Sven Goran Eriksson's team.

"I can't help [these problems]," Ladislav Jurkemik, Slovakia's coach said. "So we'll just have to get on with it."

The key changes to the squad that lost to Turkey see recalls for both Szilard Nemeth, who has impressed for Middlesbrough in the Premiership of late, and the FC Zurich goalkeeper, Miroslav König, who is back in the international fold after almost a year. His inclusion may put pressure on the giant Juraj Bucek, who had a poor game against Turkey.

Among the absentees are West Ham's Vladimir Labant, who played against Turkey but has been omitted because he has not been a regular at Upton Park, and the wing-back Vratislav Gresko, who has similarly failed to secure a starting place at Parma this season. The experienced central defender Marek Spilar, who plays for Club Bruges, is injured and will be replaced by Marian Zeman of Vitesse Arnhem.

Such names are unlikely to strike fear into England, if only because most of Eriksson's players have never heard of most of them. David James admitted as much earlier this week, with the obligatory rider that he was sure this would not translate into an easy win. In truth, if England do not come home with three points, there will be something seriously amiss.

The days when the Slovakian element of the former Czechoslovakia side was dominant in the game are firmly in the past. Since the 'Velvet Divorce' of 1993, the Czech Republic have reached the final of Euro 1996, earned international respect for their development, and produced such talents as Pavel Nedved, Karel Poborsky and Patrik Berger. Vladimir Smicer and Tomas Repka are other Czechs who have played in England.

Slovakia, on the other hand, is more famous internationally for its world championship-winning ice hockey team and its leggy tennis player, Daniela Hantuchova, than for Nemeth, Gresko or Labant, who, having made it overseas, are the country's biggest footballing names.

The one-time darling of Celtic Park, Lubomir Moravcik, no longer plays at the top level. Stanislav Varga, who has played for Sunderland and West Bromwich, has hardly set English football alight, while Igor Balis, who is faring better at The Hawthorns, has retired from international football. Slovakia, moreover, have yet to truly threaten to make it to a major tournament.

Their last major qualifying campaign, for the 2002 World Cup, was by no means a disgrace. Taking four points from Turkey and six from Macedonia (both qualifying opponents again in Euro 2004) was certainly an achievement. But losing to Moldova and at home to Azerbaijan – ranked outside Fifa's top 100 – was less of one. Their failure to reach Japan and South Korea thus saw the departure of the coach Jozef Adamec, whose contract was not renewed. Jurkemik, a 49-year-old former libero who was famous for his free-kicks, was appointed last December.

Although England have never faced Slovakia before, they have played two previous senior internationals in Saturday's host city, Bratislava, against the amalgamated Czechoslovakia of old. The last visit there was in 1975 when Don Revie's side played a qualifier for the European Championship of 1976. England lost 2-1 and failed to make the final stages.

A Czechoslovakian team that included Jurkemik went on to win the competition on penalties, beating West Germany, whose line up for the final included Berti Vogts and Franz Beckenbauer. Now it is tempting to say Slovakia have as much chance of reaching the 2004 final as Vogts' Scotland.

"It will be hard for us [on Saturday] because England are one of the teams capable of winning the whole tournament," Nemeth admitted to reporters yesterday.

"If we lose again we have no chance of qualifying," he added. "We have given teams like Spain tough games in the past but our finishing tends to let us down. We always create chances but we must start to take them.

"We are a small country and only have 20 or 30 players capable of playing for Slovakia at this level. Even then, players who are with clubs in Germany or Italy do not tend to play every week, so Saturday's match is going to be very difficult. There is a lot of support for the national side, though, and we will do our best to make them happy."

If that is reverse psychology, then it is quite convincing.

SPOTLIGHT ON SLOVAKIA

Population: 5.4m

Capital: Bratislava

FA founded: 1993

Number of clubs: 2,140

Number of players: 141,000

Major clubs: Slovan Bratislava, Inter Bratislava, Kosice, Zilina, Petrzalka.

Major international tournaments reached: None.

Coach: Ladislav Jurkemik was a 1976 European Championship winner with Czechoslovakia, helping to beat West Germany 5-3 on penalties in the final after a 2-2 draw. He also played against England in the 1982 World Cup finals at the group stage. England won 2-0.

Best World Cup qualifying campaign: 2002, finished third behind Turkey and Sweden.

Best European Championship qualifying campaign: 2000, lost only one away game, to Portugal, but still failed to qualify.

Biggest win: 6-0 against Malta in 1996, WC qualifier for 1998.

Biggest defeat (or "highest loose" according to the Slovakian FA website): 0-5 v Brazil and 0-5 v Poland in 1995.

Slovakians who have played in England: Vladimir Kinder (Middlesbrough); Igor Balis (WBA); Stanislav Varga (Sunderland, WBA); Vladimir Labant (West Ham); Szilard Nemeth (Middlesbrough).

Famous Slovakian sporting figures: The national ice hockey team, who beat Russia to become world champions in May; tennis's Daniela Hantuchova, winner of Grand Slam mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon and in Australia (who has 44in legs); the former world tennis No1 Martina Hingis, born in Kosice of a Czech mother and Slovak father, now a Swiss citizen).

Notable non-sporting Slovakians: Alexander Dubcek (politician); Andy Warhol (artist, born Andy Warhola in Pittsburgh to Slovakian parents).