David James admitted England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 has led to the team developing as a strong unit.

James believes England have "come on leaps and bounds" since the 3-2 defeat by Croatia ended their hopes of taking part in the finals in Austria and Switzerland last summer.

James said: "Things have come on leaps and bounds since the Croatia game. On reflection, it might have been a better thing that we got beat by Croatia.

"I know it sounds a doom scenario but we could have ended up going to the tournament, not performing well and then employing a new manager who would have had no time to turn things around.

"In that little few months run-in to the World Cup qualifiers, Mr Capello had the chance to look at the players he wanted. He has picked players who weren't fancied before - myself included.

"I am looking at a side now that is full of confidence and arguably an appearance in the Euro 2008 tournament, and a bad performance in the tournament, could have been very detrimental long term."