A Turkey coach Senol Gunes said on Wednesday that an English team in disarray would play into the hands of his side in the decisive Euro 2004 qualifier in Istanbul at the weekend.

The England players have threatened to boycott Saturday's match if the English Football Association refuses to reinstate Rio Ferdinand, who has been dropped from the squad after failing to take a routine drugs test.

"We would be happy if they (the English side) come onto the pitch troubled and in disarray," Gunes told reporters in Istanbul.

"But the English should resolve their own problems themselves.

There is only one thing that is on our minds and that is to get onto the pitch and win."

Nonetheless, Gunes cautioned that the English team would lose none of its strength if one or two players were dropped from the squad.

"Our rivals are very strong. I do not think they would feel the absence of one or two players," he added.

The English Football Association on Wednesday ruled out the reinstatement of Ferdinand to the national squad, but admitted that they could not guarantee the players would back down and get on the plane to Turkey.

European football's governing body UEFA, meanwhile, announced that England would forfeit the match if a boycott went ahead, with Turkey awarded a 3-0 win.

The manager of the Turkish team, Can Cobanoglu, meanwhile played down the English players' boycott

threat as a "tactic to change the agenda".

"The English always cause incidents in a bid to change the agenda and then they come and play the match," he told AFP.

"I would prefer playing the English side in Istanbul and defeating them to winning because of a no-show. That would be a nicer way to go to Portugal."

England need to at least draw the match to finish top of group seven and qualify directly for next year's European Championship finals in Portugal.Turkey must win to finish top of the group, otherwise they will finish second and must enter the playoffs for a place in the finals.

Despite coming third in last year's World Cup, Turkey have never beaten England and have drawn only once in nine matches since 1984.