SLOVAKIA V SCOTLAND
Victory for the Scots at the Stadion Antona Malatinskeho in Trnava would provide a massive boost to our chances of finishing in the top two in Group F.
And Cikos, who has two full caps for his country, believes Slovakia’s suspension and injury crisis is a real gift to Gordon Strachan’s men.
The former Slovan Bratislava rightback said: “It is a very big and important game for both countries but Slovakia will have up to 10 players missing, which is a real problem for us.
“We are usual ly very strong at home but we will be without a number of key individuals, through injury and suspension, including our captain and veteran central defender Martin Skrtel.
“That will give Scotland a better chance than they otherwise would have had to get something from the tie.
“It will still be a very close game though and I am looking forward to it.”
If anything, Cikos played down his team’s problems ahead of the qualifier as Jan Kozak’s side are in the midst of a full-blown crisis which Strachan really has to take advantage of.
As well as the loss of the much heralded Skrtel, who had surgery last week after a double nose break, the Slovaks will also miss Hertha Berlin defender Peter Pekarik, Zilina midfielder Viktor Pecovsky and Pescara central defender Norbert Gyomber. Former Rangers winger Vladimir Weiss, one of his team’s best performers at Euro 2016, was also dropped from the national squad amid reports he refused to take a breathalyser test in his home city of Bratislava.
The one bright spot for manager Kozak was that centre-half Jan Durica was f ined £ 4000 rather than being suspended after accusing Serbian referee Milorad Mazic of bias in the wake of Slovakia’s 1- 0 home defeat to England last month.
While Slovakia’s side are in turmoil, Cikos believes Scotland’s team ethic could help them earn a favourable result on Tuesday.
The 28-year- old Dingwall defender added: “I don’t think Scotland have any great individual players but as an overall unit they can look very strong.
“At times they demonstrate a high level of pace that can cause their international opponents a lot of