Croatia manager Zlatjo Dalic has revealed that Rangers full back Borna Barisic could miss his sides Euro 2020 games following a flare-up of an old back injury.
The Scottish Premiership winner was sent for an MRI scan on Monday, the results of which will determine his future in this year’s competition.
Barisic missed the Croatian’s opener against England on Sunday, with 19-year-old Josko Gvardiol of Dinamo Zagreb taking his place.
And his manager remains uncertain as to whether he will feature at all during the group stages.
He said: “Borna arrived at the camp and missed two training sessions because of a back injury he had previously with his club.
“He started working out again but unfortunately he’s not in the same shape as he was during the whole season.
“He did an MRI scan today so we will see exactly what the situation with him is over the next few days.”
Barisic was an integral part of Steven Gerrard’s title winning side this season, with his strong defensive performances helping his side stay unbeaten in the league.
The Croatian was equally as prolific going forward, netting powerful freekicks and looking dangerous from set plays.
Dalic acknowledged that his absence would be an issue saying: “It is a problem for us, especially against Scotland when he would be at home.
“We will have to see his results then we will know more about his status going forward.”
Croatia lost their opening match against England on Sunday at Wembley leaving them in need of points in their follow up games to progress to the knockout stages.
But the manager insists that his side are far from down and out following the opening day defeat.
He said: “Our expectations are different now, but we have to be realistic too because this isn’t the same team as 2018.
“We have played Belgium and England and neither of them have outplayed us.
“We didn’t play badly against England, they only had two shots on our goal but we were not dangerous enough going forward.
“We need to be more ambitious in attack.”
He went on to acknowledge the threat expected from both Scotland and the Czech Republic in the final games of the group.
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And also insisted that his team would have to improve their performance in order to overcome both opponents.
He said: “We have to improve our play because the Czech Republic and Scotland won’t be easy games.
“I am an optimist, I can’t be pessimistic after losing 1-0 to England – one of the teams who are expected to do well.”
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