Spain coach coach Vicente del Bosque replaced the Arsenal player with Xabi Alonso in the 65th minute of the encounter, not long after the 21-year-old's pinpoint through-ball had helped David Villa net the only goal of the game in Murcia.

And though he admits he was not best pleased by the switch, Fabregas insists he has nothing to apologise for, saying: "The day that they replace me and I'm not angry I will leave football.

"It's normal that you think like that when you've been taken off. It's not a lack of respect for anybody for wanting to be a better player every day.

"The most important thing is that we won and that we've started the qualification phase with three points. It was not easy and we had it tough to break down their defence, but we did it."

The 21-year-old Fabregas, who has made 33 appearances for his country but only played in five full matches, added: "They always change me when we are winning. This suggests that I need to be better in defence to be a more complete midfielder.

"I want to improve, to be a complete midfielder and show to everyone that I can play in both positions, as much in attack as defence."

Meanwhile, Fabregas' fellow midfielder Andres Iniesta is hoping to see the European champions put on a good show when they return to the region where he grew up to face Armenia on Wednesday.

Barcelona ace Iniesta, who was born just outside the city of Albacete where this week's game will be staged, said: "On Wednesday there is every incentive to have a good game.

"I think it was a good game (against Bosnia-Herzegovina). In the second half we played a faster game, we created quite a few chances and scored a goal.

"We had some chances to score more goals. There are other games where you score in the first half and things change. What's important is to be clear about things - we got a goal, three points and that's that."