Czech Republic v Turkey preview: Petr Cech and Co relying on Spain as they hope to qualify for last 16

Czech Republic must beat Turkey in their final Group D match and hope that Spain overcome Croatia if they are to qualify automatically for the last 16.

Of course, Petr Cech and his team-mates can qualify regardless as one of the best third-placed teams, but they rely on European champions Spain if they are to secure their place on Tuesday night.

The Czechs can count themselves lucky to have any points after they were beaten by Spain and then needed an 89th-minute equaliser against Croatia to secure the draw in Saint-Etienne.

That Tomas Necid strike, though, gives them a chance to qualify in second place if they can overcome arguably the worst team in Group D - Turkey.

They themselves have a very slim chance of qualifying in the new 24-team tournament despite losing their opening two matches.

If they beat Czech Republic to finish with three points, they could be included in the last 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams, but their goal difference of -4 means that is currently unlikely.

Turkey were well-beaten by Spain in what was probably the most one-sided match of the tournament so far. Alvaro Morata and Nolito were the goalscorers in a 3-0 defeat for Turkey, but they will hope to pick themselves up ahead of their final match on Tuesday night.

Czech Republic are the most likely to progress of the two sides of course, and coach Pavel Vrba praised his side's late equaliser to keep them in with a shot.

Speaking to reporters after his side's last match, he said: "We'll play for everything in the last match. It wasn't going well, but we've given ourselves a spark of hope to get out of the group. All the players gave their utmost in the second half, and of course the two substitutes helped a lot.

"What helped most was that we didn't give up. We didn't give up on the point and I'm really proud of all the players."

Team news

Czech Republic were dealt a huge blow over the weekend when it was revealed that a thigh injury has ended captain Tomas Rosicky's involvement in the tournament.

The injury-prone former Arsenal midfielder will stay in France to support his team-mates, but his absence from the pitch is a huge blow for a side desperate for three points.

Other than that, Czech Republic have a fully-fit squad from which to choose a starting XI. There are slight suspension worries though, with David Limbersky and Tomas Sivok just one yellow away from a ban.

Turkey have Burak Yilmaz, Cenk Tosun, Hakan Balta, Ozan Tufan and Volkan Sen risking suspension... but they need to fight for their place in the last 16 before worrying about that.

Paul Merson's prediction

"For 75 minutes against Croatia, the Czech Republic looked like they didn't have a chance of getting through after getting battered but they managed to turn it around. Turkey were given a run-around by Spain and I've been disappointed by them so far.

"This is another game that Northern Ireland will be looking at, because a draw or a Turkey win could help them to qualify in third place. I'll predict a Turkey win, which might be no good for either team."

Who could be suspended?

Find out which players are just one yellow card away from a suspension at Euro 2016.

PAUL PREDICTS: 1-0 to Turkey

Opta stats

This will be the 20th meeting between the sides; Czech Republic (including Czechoslovakia) won 12 of the previous 19 while Turkey won four (D3).

This will be just the second meeting between the sides at a major tournament after the two met at Euro 2008 with Turkey winning 3-2, despite trailing 2-0 with less than 20 minutes of the match remaining.

Czech Republic and Turkey also met in qualifying for EURO 2016; Czech Republic finished top of Group A while Turkey qualified as the best third-placed team.

The sides shared one win apiece in their 2016 qualifying clashes, with the away side on the day winning in each.

There have been 31 goals in the last nine games between these two nations, with at least two goals being scored in each of those nine fixtures.

Since the formation of the Czech Republic in 1993, the country has reached the knockout stages in three of its five Euro participations (1996, 2004, 2012).

The Czech Republic have scored in 12 of their last 13 group games at the European Championships.

If Petr Cech plays, he will equal the Czech record for most games at major tournaments: 17, currently held by Karel Poborsky. Only Peter Schmeichel has conceded more goals (20) than Cech (19) in EURO history.

Czech striker Necid has scored twice as many goals as a substitute (8) than as a starter (4) for the national team.

Betting

Czech Republic are Sky Bet's 7/5 favourites for the victory with Turkey given a 2/1 chance while a draw is priced at 11/5. Both sides are odds-against to qualify for the final 16 and considerable outsiders to win Euro 2016 at 150/1 and 200/1 respectively.

Necid heads a wide-open first goalscorer market, with Yilmaz considered the main Turkey threat at 11/2, while the strike duo are enhanced from 7/1 to 9/1 to both find the net in Sky Bet's Price Boosts.