A row has erupted over the first terrestrial TV blackout of a must-see England match in 40 years.

Wednesday night's crucial World Cup qualifier against Croatia will only be seen on Setanta Sports, with no national broadcaster showing match highlights.

Setanta paid £5million for the rights to broadcast the match live and reportedly have been asking for £1m for the rights to highlights.

But the highest bid they received is believed to be £250,000 from ITV, with the BBC offering around £200,000.

An ITV source told OddsPreview.com last night: "The money Setanta are asking for is obscene and its the public who are missing out as a result of their greed."

On Saturday in Barcelona, England fans chanted anti-Setanta slogans during the Andorra game.

Former England captain Alan Mullery told the Daily Mail: "The FA have sold their soul for money without considering the supporters who have been loyal to them.

"Setanta have gatecrashed the scene and you can't blame them because they are trying to compete, but they have demanded a ludicrous price for highlights, so it is little wonder the fans are up in arms."

Phil Thompson, now a pundit with Setanta's rivals, Sky Sports, added: "How on earth can this be allowed to happen? The FA should be bright enough to gain control of who watches their matches - and that means a guarantee for the fans back home."

Setanta have secured rights to all of England's World Cup away games but attracted an average audience of just 750,000 for the clash with Andorra last Saturday.

Although Wednesday night's clash should bring a higher audience, Setanta is only available in 3million homes and the total viewing audience will likely be lower for the live broadcast than a highlights show would bring on terrestrial TV.

Mark Longden of the Football Supporters' Federation said: "England football fans should be able to watch the England team for free. This is the national team, it is so important to so many people.

"These games should be protected. Rights to these games should only be sold to broadcasters on the understanding that provision is made for a terrestrial highlights show."

A spokesman for Setanta said on Tuesday night: "We entered into discussions to make the highlights available but to date have not received a proposal that makes commercial sense."