London, Nov 24: Fabio Capello is the ideal candidate to take over as England manager from Steve McClaren, former national team assistant coach Terry Venables said.

''Managing England has become harder than ever and you need someone used to these extraordinary pressures,'' Venables, who was sacked along with McClaren last week, told The Sun.

''I never thought I'd be saying this but people like Capello have already experienced such pressure in their own country.

They have the know-how, deep knowledge of international and Champions league football. But, most of all, they are winners.'' Capello, the 61-year-old former Real Madrid, AC Milan and Juventus coach, has been installed as the favourite for the high-pressure England job by the bookmakers.

McClaren's short reign as head coach ended after Wednesday's 3-2 defeat by Croatia at Wembley Stadium dashed England's hopes of playing at next year's European Championship.

''I am ready to discuss becoming the England national coach,'' Capello, Ladbrokes' 2-1 favourite, told Italian media yesterday.

''It would be a very interesting challenge and to me difficult challenges have always been fascinating.'' Venables added in his column in Saturday's Sun: ''People like Capello and Marcello Lippi, who won the World Cup with Italy, are tough guys who wouldn't find it so difficult working here.''

UNI