Luke Modric will 'definitely' start for Croatia as they take on the Czech Republic in Group D of Euro 2016 in Saint-Etienne.

Manager Ante Cacic confirmed that the Real Madrid star will be in the starting line-up after his match-winning performance against Turkey on Sunday.

"Our game revolves around Modric and we have to keep him fresh throughout the tournament, but he looks in good physical and mental shape so he will definitely start," he told a press conference.

Croatia can seal their path to the knockout rounds with another win on Friday, but despite current champions Spain being in the same group, Cacic says the game against the Czech Republic is the one he fears.

"Of all our group stage games, I dread the one against the Czechs the most. I have the utmost respect for them and we have to be razor-sharp because a last-16 spot is at stake."

The Czech's lost their opening fixture against Spain on Monday, but it took a late header from Gerard Pique to narrowly see off Pavel Vrba's men.

Captain Tomas Rosicky is hoping the attacking prowess of his team will shine through in Saint-Etienne, but is expecting another tough fixture.

The midfielder told UEFA.com: "It'll be a hard match, against another very technical team. It will be very similar to the Spain game, because Croatia's quality is huge. But we're glad to have the chance to show more in an attacking way."

Team news

Croatia defender Verdun Corluka suffered a head injury against Turkey but continued to play the full 90 minutes, and after receiving three stitches, will be available for Friday's match-up.

Captain Darijo Srna has also re-joined the squad after travelling home for his father's funeral, and will be available for selection, with manager Cacic suggesting he may make other changes.

"We have to prepare ourselves for a fast-paced game and it wouldn't be a drawback if we made some changes to the starting 11," he said.

Vrba is set to have a fully fit Czech Republic squad to chose from, with Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech particularly impressive against Spain. 

He told UEFA.com: "They had more chances and the result could have been different if Petr Cech hadn't made some great saves and if the defence hadn't played as consistently as they did. The players did everything they could and that makes me happy."

Match stats

Czech Republic have played Croatia twice before and are yet to claim victory against them (D1 L1).

This is the first time Czech Republic and Croatia have met in a game that wasn't a friendly.

Six of the eight goals in matches between these countries have come in the first half.

The Czech Republic have lost six of their last nine Euro games (W3).

None of the Czech Republic's last 20 games at a major tournament has ended in a draw (W9 L11). Their last draw was in the semi-finals of Euro 1996 against France (0-0, 6-5 on pens).

The Czech Republic have never failed to score in two consecutive games at the European Championships.

Croatia have won five of their last eight group games in the European Championships (D2 L1).

Croatia have only failed to score once in their last 10 games in the European Championships, it was against Spain in 2012. They've also never conceded more than one goal in their last eight games in the competition.

Croatia struck the woodwork three times against Turkey, only the fourth time this had happened in a Euro game since 1980.

Croatia tied their record for most shots in a 90-minute Euro game with their 19 attempts against Turkey. 15 of those came from inside the box.

Modric scored with his only shot against Turkey. He also had more touches (79) and completed more passes (52) than any other player in that game.

Merson's prediction

Merson's Euro predictions

Paul Merson previews the second round of group matches at Euro 2016.

Croatia area very solid team! They've got some very good players and that showed against Turkey. I thought the Czech Republic defended very well against Spain. In the end they just got tired, got too deep and it cost them. I'm just siding with Croatia.

PAUL PREDICTS: 0-1 (Sky Bet's odds: 5/1)

Betting

Croatia are marginally odds-on with Sky Bet at 5/6 as Czech Republic go up against odds of 18/5 while the draw is priced at 23/10. Mario Mandzukic heads the first goalscorer betting at 5/1 and is enhanced from 2/1 to 11/4 to net in a Croatia win as one of Sky Bet's pre-match Price Boosts, while Tomas Necid is considered the main Czech threat at 7/1 to break the deadlock.

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