Capello nearly walked straight into a reunion between England and Scotland when he succeeded Steve McClaren in the wake of the Three Lions' disastrous failure to reach Euro 2008.

With both countries eager to generate some interest at the start of a barren summer, the oldest international fixture was briefly back on the agenda. It would have happened too if Rangers and Celtic had agreed to release their players instead of forcing them to attend their own post-season tours.

Since then, England's fortunes have curved sharply upwards and Scotland have headed in the opposite direction.

So, it is to Pot Three Capello must look if he is to be pitched into a contest against the oldest of enemies, who have not done battle since 1999 when a brave Scotland second-leg fightback at Wembley only just failed to rip a place at Euro 2000 from England's grasp.

The Republic of Ireland - who England have not met since 1995 when a friendly in Dublin was abandoned amid violent scenes at Lansdowne Road - represent a bigger threat given how close they were to securing a spot at this summer's World Cup.

For Capello, though, the biggest danger to automatic qualification for the Euro 2012 tournament that will be co-hosted by Poland and the Ukraine, will be the team seeded second in England's group.

The real heavyweights - Spain, Germany, Holland, Italy, Portugal and France - are all avoided, but not Vidic's Serbia, probably the best of the five World Cup contenders among the nine in Pot Two.

Northern Ireland's recent improvement offers them a spot in Pot Three, giving England a 33% chance of drawing very familiar opposition.

The same is also true for Wales, in Pot Four along with Belgium, a measure of how far both countries' fortunes have plummeted.

In truth, Capello would quite like one of those two, if only for the ease of travel.

On that geographical basis, Switzerland, Scotland, Wales, Iceland and Luxembourg would be the dream draw.

The polar opposite would condemn England to undertake trips to Turkey, Israel, Cyprus, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan and clock up plenty of air miles in the process.

Substitute Romania for Turkey, Bulgaria for Israel and Belarus for Cyprus and you have the least fan-friendly group.

Indeed, Pot Five, including Albania, Georgia, Moldova and Armenia, as well as Kazakhstan, who England defeated twice on the road to South Africa looks the least appealing, while all the Home Nations have a 33% chance of missing anyone from Pot Six, meaning only eight qualifying games have to be played over a 13-month period.

With 14 places up for grabs, all nine group winners, plus the best runner-up, go straight through. The remaining eight go into four play-off matches, which, much to the Republic of Ireland's chagrin, were seeded in World Cup qualifying.

So, if England and Scotland do miss each other - and they have not met in a qualifying group as we now know them in any other major competition before - there could be plenty of space to arrange that reunion.