Bulgaria coach Stanimir Stoilov believes England will always struggle to shine in major tournaments because of the gruelling nature of the English domestic season.

GettyImagesStanimir Stoilov has coached Bulgaria for the past 18 months

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Before this summer's World Cup, Fabio Capello opted to take his players away for a two-week training camp in Austria after his squad had only a few days off at the end of the domestic campaign.

But Stoilov, whose side take on England in a Euro 2012 qualifier at Wembley tonight, believes rest is a crucial element and claimed that England's failure to make an impact at the finals should have been expected.

"I was not very surprised by England's performance at the World Cup because the season here is very hard to deal with for the players," Stoilov said.

"That is the main reason that England did not do well at the World Cup and also the European Championships before that.

"The most important thing before a tournament like that is how to rest the players and prepare them for the coming games and not the training sessions.

"I would have allowed my players to have a rest. That is only my opinion. It is not my job to give advice to the FA.''