Gareth Southgate has called on his England side to block out bad memories of Croatia and deliver at Wembley on Sunday.
The Three Lions have already met Croatia once since their World Cup semi-final defeat in Moscow this summer.
The 0-0 Uefa Nations League draw in an empty stadium was the polar opposite of what will await at Wembley this weekend in a winner-takes-all clash.
It is almost 11 years since a November meeting between the two at Wembley saw England miss out on the European Championships in 2008 – a 3-2 defeat which saw Steve McClaren labelled the 'wally with the brolly'.
While Croatia have scarred England's recent history, Southgate is keen his side put it all aside.
"I don’t think that game [in 2008] is something for me as a reference," he said.
"I think for me it is about our team and now. We didn’t get over the line in the summer, and we want to try to prove that we have learned from that, and have improved from the summer, and we play a team which we hugely respect with real competitors and warriors.
"That’s what we’ve tried to do over the last 18 months," Southgate added of putting the past behind them.
"Just focus on this team and now and how we want to be and how we want to approach things. Some of the football the lads played [against USA] in patches was really exciting stuff, especially some of the interplay and one-touch play around the box.
"We’ve got players who should feel on this stage that it’s their moment to deliver, and show what they can do.
"I know they’re hugely excited at hearing the result and realising there’s an opportunity to aim for something again, rather than a game that’s just for pride."
A win for England will see them through to the Nations League finals, while Croatia or Spain could still make it through dependant on the result.
Southgate, though, has seen the whole exercise as nothing but good for his developing side.
"I have felt all along that the beauty of it was going to be a really good test against other top teams," he added. "For everybody now it is become now, OK, right, a really good night in Seville and the game here with Spain was a really good occasion, so now this takes on even more excitement.
"None of us could really predict how it would feel or what it would look like, especially on the back of the summer. But it’s built to a really exciting finish."
