By Paul Giblin

MOSCOW, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Fears of crowd violence ahead of England's opening group game against Tunisia in Volgograd on Monday night turned out to be unfounded after a day without any incidents of note.

Clashes between England supporters and Russian 'Ultras' during the 2016 European Championships in France had led to worries they could be repeated in Russia, but England supporters who travelled to watch their side's 2-1 win over Tunisia received a warm welcome and responded in kind on a positive day for football.

"I think from the moment fans got off the planes, went into the car park and saw people cheering them, I have never seen anything like that," Mark Roberts, the UK Football Police Leader in Russia said in an interview with Sky Sports on Tuesday.

Roberts highlighted the efforts Russian people and authorities have made in ensuring the World Cup goes ahead without any problems.

"If you speak to taxi drivers and people in hotels, there is a lot of interest and people want it to go very well," he added. "A lot of Russians were wearing England shirts and kits from Premier League clubs and there is a lot of awareness of and affection for England."

England's next game is against Panama in Kaliningrad on Sunday and Roberts was optimistic that Monday's positive atmosphere would help further reduce the risk of hooliganism.

"The good news is after the game last night, the chance of that game being peaceful will have increased," he explained.

Roberts confirmed that members of the British police are coordinating with their Russian counterparts to ensure there is no fighting between rival supporters, and concluded with a positive message.

"I am confident the Russian police should look at what happened last night and approach the next game in the same way… If the England fans come and behave at subsequent games as they have at this one, it will be great, it will be a great atmosphere, we can all enjoy it and enjoy the games." Enditem

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