Roy Hodgson says his priority is a good performance rather than "a goal feast" against San Marino at Wembley tonight.
England's opponents are ranked the joint-worst international team alongside Bhutan, and it would take a £200 stake on a home win with Sky Bet to win just £1.
The statistics from four previous meetings make grim reading for San Marino, who have conceded 26 goals and scored just one - David Gualtieiri's famous eighth-second strike against Graham Taylor-era England in 1993.
Against that backdrop Hodgson is understandably confident of victory - and has already set his side the target of an unbeaten qualifying campaign.
But the manager said: "We're not trying to play anything down, but I must also say we're not trying to suggest this is going to be a goal feast. It might, but it might well not be.
"As I've said in my programme notes, it's one of these games where you do rely on a lot of people's understanding of the situation and understanding of the game."If the expectation is that we're going to go out and score loads of goals and find it very, very easy, I think we all know that's not true.
"We've played San Marino before, we've played other teams like San Marino in the past and as the years go by they do get better and better at getting some sort of result in terms of not losing that heavily, at least in a lot of the cases."We were lucky enough to beat them heavily (8-0) in our last time out. But, I've got to say, at no time in my talks with the players, not once have we mentioned goals and the number of goals scored.
"I'm telling the truth when I say for us it's all about performance and building on what's good in the last two games and making sure we don't slip below those standards."England won their Group E opener in Switzerland - a game widely regarded as their toughest qualifier - and go to Estonia after tonight's game.
Hodgson said: "It would be nice to go through this qualifying campaign unbeaten. If we get two good results (this week), we'll set ourselves the target of winning all the games."Hodgson has apologised to Wayne Rooney for the fuss caused by his throwaway remark about his captain's Liverpool accent.
Hodgson said last week that Rooney would not be able lecture a room full of people because of his accent, but the pair both saw the funny side of the situation.
"I have to be very careful when talking about accents and the way people speak," Hodgson said with a laugh."It took years for me to realise I had a speech defect, but it was made very clear to me when I took the job that I had one.
"I have been aware of it ever since so I am the last person to discuss accents.
"I am disappointed, of course, in the headline, I'd add, because what I was trying to say probably came out in the article. But, of course, it is headlines that create potential damage.
"Fortunately, I have got a guy alongside me who has been with me for a long time and he knows that in no way was it aimed at home or anyone from Liverpool.
"My wife is from Liverpool so I think that is last thing I would be doing.
"I have actually apologised to him for the headline, but he was so gracious that he didn't even want the apology. As far as we are concerned, it is a storm in a tea cup."
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