Dalic insists on Croatia improvement

ZLATKO DALIC will demand further improvement from Croatia as they look to clinch qualification with victory over Scotland next week.

The Croats got their first point on the board in Group D as Ivan Perisic cancelled out a Patrik Schick penalty to earn a share of the spoils against the Czech Republic.

There were signs of encouragement following the opening matchday defeat to England but boss Dalic knows his side will need to step it up once again when they face Scotland.

Dalic said: “Tactically it didn’t work perfectly for us. We used lots of energy.

“Individually we took too long. We have to work compactly as a team.

“The second half changed the story. We scored very quickly but were not really great, despite the chances for

Petkovic and Vlasic. The score is realistic.

“First of all we need to win. Four points is going to be sufficient to move on.

“We cannot talk about goal difference just now, the most important thing is to win.

“It can be complicated for the second position but for the third one, victory will be sufficient.

“We have been given an additional chance to play against Scotland and win this game.

“We will do our best. For sure, we have to improve in some matters. Today’s opponent ran more than us, We didn’t have freshness and energy, which we need.

“Some of the players are not in the position they need to be. We have to me more aggressive and play a faster game.

“Our goal is to move to the next round but we definitely have to play this third match way better.”

The Hampden stalemate was a fair result in the end as both managers had to settle for a point on an evening where a handful of chances were missed in a tight encounter.

The Czechs now have four points to their credit and boss Jaroslav Silhavy said: “Obviously we’re very happy because getting a draw against such a strong opponent is a worthy feat.

“Maybe Croatia was stronger in the second half. I’m sorry about the goal we conceded because we weren’t concentrating.

“They really started quickly on the set-piece and Persisic managed to score. That was avoidable. But we’re happy with one point – now let’s see how we continue.”