Newport County boss Peter Nicholas believes England will be terrified at the prospect of facing Wales in the World Cup 2006 qualifiers.

Wales' fourth most capped player - with 73 appearances for the Dragons - thinks it is an excellent draw and is a group that they can be realistically confident of qualifying from.

He said: "It is a fantastic draw for us. I think that England would have hoped not to get us, I really do.

"England will obviously be favourites but they will be frightened at the thought of playing us.

"We have a great chance of beating them.

"The one big thing in our favour is that we have a settled side whereas the English are still changing their team and formation each time they play.

"And it looks like our experienced players are not going to retire, which will be great for us.

"With the experienced players in the team and some good young players, and it looks like we will be playing a lot of friendlies against the likes of France, by the time we play England, the lads will be ready."

He added: "The guys will know all about each other so there will be no surprises about who they're up against."

The rest of the group holds no fear for Nicholas either.

He said: "I think we can, without doubt, make second place. Austria are similar to ourselves in that they are always on the edge of qualification and we know all about Northern Ireland's players as well.

Nicholas added: "I would take second place right now.

"We would have to go through a play-off but the players have experience of that situation now and will know how to handle it."

Nicholas has fond memories of facing England, the highlight being a 4-1 thrashing of them at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground in 1980.

He said: "They are great games to be involved in, a fantastic experience, and there is nothing better than going back to your club after a victory.

"After the 4-1 game, I couldn't wait to get back to Crystal Palace to give the English lads a bit of stick.

"At least it will shut them up for a while!"