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Sam Allardyce: England fans shouldn't be expecting 10-0 win vs. Malta

England manager Sam Allardyce believes the team will struggle to live up to supporters' expectations when they face Malta next month.

The Three Lions, who saw off Slovakia 1-0 earlier this month, next face Malta at home on Oct. 8 as they continue their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Scotland, who are also in Group F, defeated Malta 5-1 in their opening qualifier, but Allardyce has warned fans not to necessarily be expecting a walkover when England play them

"I think the atmosphere [at Wembley] is electric when the place is full -- they lift the roof off, the England fans," he told the Football Association's official website. "I think what we have to do is try and live up to their expectation.

"Unfortunately their expectation will be 10-0. I'm not so sure we'll get anywhere near that, but since Scotland beat them 5-1 in the last game, albeit when they were only playing against nine men, their expectations have gone up since Scotland beat them by five.

"So we have to live with that and try and deliver the best we possibly can. But I'd expect Malta to put up a defensive resilience that we have to try and break down."

While England kicked off their World Cup qualifying campaign with victory over Slovakia, they had to rely on Adam Lallana's last-minute winner to secure the three points.

Allardyce feels that his side will need to do better in front of goal in future if they are to succeed under him.

"The cutting edge was just missing," Allardyce said of the Slovakia game. "And that came about with the problem of having to score in the last minute, which was obviously vital.

"Really the score should have been a lot more, should have been a lot bigger, so it just looks like a carry-over from the Euros, where our attempts at goal were extremely high but our conversion rate has diminished somewhat.

"I think that area is where I need to focus on the most. Everything else was fantastic, just the cutting edge and the final finish eluded us. I think with 20 attempts at goal, in an international if you're having that many attempts at goal, you should be scoring two or three."