Monday 20 June 2016 21:35, UK
Petr Cech believes the Czech Republic can overcome the loss of captain Tomas Rosicky to book their place in the last 16 at Euro 2016 with victory over Turkey.
Rosicky was ruled out for the rest of the tournament after sustaining a muscle injury towards the end of the 2-2 draw against Croatia in St Etienne on Friday.
Scans confirmed that the 35-year-old will be ruled out of action for between three and six weeks, and while the free agent be with the squad for the remainder of their stay in France, he will not be able to play.
Cech, who was with Rosicky at Arsenal last season, has called on his team-mates to raise their game in their captain's absence ahead of their crucial final Group D match.
"Obviously Tomas is a big loss, he is one of our key players, but the other players will have to step up," Cech said at a press conference.
"Our biggest strength is the team play, we don't have big stars, but our togetherness and spirit is our biggest strength, so as a team we will have to make up for his loss and now other players will have a chance to show they can
do it."
Pavel Vrba's side came from 2-0 down to record their first point of the competition against Croatia - after conceding a late winner to Spain in their opening game - and Cech is aware that only a win against Turkey would guarantee qualification for the knockout stages.
Cech said: "If we want to qualify and not wait for other teams, then we have to win.
"The most important thing will be how we play. They will try to make it difficult for us, but we have to prepare ourselves for the best possible team performance."
Fatih Terim's side have lost both group matches so far, but could yet enter the qualification shake-up as one of the four best third-placed teams with a win over the Czechs.
Turkey famously won their previous encounter at the European Championship finals in 2008, having been 2-0 down with only 15 minutes to go.
Cech, however, does not believe that defeat will be in the memory of his team-mates when they face off again at Stade Bollaert-Delelis.
"It has been eight years. This will mostly be revenge for the match against them in Prague in the qualifiers when we lost," the 34-year-old goalkeeper added.
