England’s World Cup qualifier against Albania in Tirana on Sunday should go ahead after a security issue was resolved.

The Albanian Football Association (AFA) said on Thursday it had been informed that local police could not guarantee the safety of the teams.

State police later issued a statement saying they had taken the relevant precautions for the match.

“Faced with the situation where the state authorities did not react after the request of the Albanian Football Federation for the release of spaces on the perimeter of the national stadium, we request urgent response of these structures.

“The cancellation of the Albania-England match scheduled to be played at Air Albania Stadium would have catastrophic consequences for the image of our country, the national team and in general for Albanian football.”

Speaking after England’s 5-0 win over San Marino on Thursday night, manager Gareth Southgate said he had no fears that the fixture would be called off.

“In terms of Albania, I didn’t think for one minute it would be in doubt,” he said.

“We’re sort of flooded by stories like that all the time about various issues and it’s very rare that those things actually come to fruition.

“I’m told that there is no doubt about the game.”