A SWITZERLAND victory over England tonight in their opening Euro 2016 qualifier would be a disaster according to former England manager Glenn Hoddle.

Roy Hodgson’s men travel to Basel to take on the Swiss nearly a week after Wayne Rooney’s penalty defeated Norway in a lacklustre 1-0 victory in front of a disgruntled half-empty Wembley stadium.

Hoddle, who is now coaching at QPR, believes what he saw midweek is a cause for concern given the Three Lions’ showing at the World Cup and thinks Switzerland will be a tougher test.

Should England avoid defeat, Hoddle would see that as a good result.

He said: “It (the Norway game) wasn’t the convincing win it should have been and that concerns me for Monday, because Switzerland will be a tough game and if we defend sleepily like we did and switch off like we did, then we’re going to get a big surprise.

“The best teams would have undoubtedly punished us had we switched off like that against them. That was part of our problem at the World Cup and to be honest we never even got to play the best teams there because we were knocked out so soon.

“Having said all that, if I were taking a team to Switzerland, with my manager’s head on I would be going there saying: ‘Don’t get beat.’ If we win it, that will be fantastic. If we were to lose, that would put pressure on everyone. But a point would be very good.

“I know there is a feeling that this England side have to start exciting people to win back the nation — the 40,000 crowd on Wednesday was an indication that people are losing faith in England — and that the press want the team to show some excitement to pick people up after the World Cup.

“But as a manager you have to put all that aside. I don’t think you would be doing your job right if you didn’t. Because we won’t pick people up if we lose the game. If we lose that game, that will be disaster for the manager, team, press and fans.”

Daniel Sturridge has been ruled out of tonight’s game through injury so Danny Welbeck is likely to partner the newly appointed captain Rooney up front.

Hoddle is a fan of the new Arsenal striker and feels his £16 million deadline-day transfer from Manchester United will give him the confidence to lead the line against the Swiss.

He said: “Danny Welbeck has a great opportunity to start up front for England. He looked lively when he came on in midweek.”