Croatia will go all out to break duck

INTERNATIONAL REP OF IRELAND v CROATIA: EMMET MALONEmeets Pogues fan Slaven Bilic, who promises his side will be determined to get a first win in Ireland

GIVEN THEIR rather lofty position in the world rankings these days it seems a little odd that Croatia come to Dublin this evening looking for their first win in five attempts on Irish soil.

The statistic seemed just a tiny bit less striking, though, after Slaven Bilic revealed last night that part of his research for the game involved heading along to see the Pogues play a recent gig in Zagreb.

“We are big fans,” he announced. “They are a world-class band. I’m only telling you this so that you know that we have done our homework.”

The concert was not, it seems safe to presume, the extent of his preparations for tonight’s game and his players, between them, make up what is very much a world-class side, something emphasised by Bilic’s opposite number, Giovanni Trapattoni, yesterday as he suggested that winning against opposition of this calibre would add to already high confidence levels in the wake of the wins over Macedonia and Italy.

For Bilic the aim is much the same. With his team embroiled in a qualification battle not dissimilar to the one being fought out by the Irish, Russians and Slovaks, the former West Ham and Everton defender sees this game as having the potential to provide his nation with renewed momentum ahead of their final qualifiers.

“It’s going to be the strongest possible 11,” he said when pressed about a team he would not name until today. “This is our first game since the beginning of June, it’s our only game until we play against Malta and Israel, two crucial games for us. It will be the same team as it would be if we were playing Ireland in a qualification game.

“Of course during the game we will try not to be the slave of the result and we will try to put in as many players as we could but the outcome is also important for us; for the atmosphere back home, for the atmosphere amongst the group and for everything.”

The upshot is that for the second time in 10 days or so the Aviva Stadium will be awash with transfer talk. Last time around the chatter centred on the comings and goings at Celtic, Inter Milan and, of course, Manchester City. This time it is focused on one man, Luka Modric, and whether he will swap north London for south and join Chelsea from Tottenham Hotspur over the next of weeks.

The feeling in England has increasingly been that he will stay put, although the nature of his silence on the matter in recent weeks has far from killed off the speculation.

Bilic, though, insists the move is a matter for the player. He hinted last night he might know more than he was saying, acknowledging he speaks with Modric on a weekly basis and not bothering to mention that he remains very close to Harry Redknapp. For more information, he insisted, however: “you have to ask Luka, although I’m sure tomorrow night he’s going to concentrate on football.”

If the 25-year-old manages the sort of performance that reminds Chelsea why they have so keen to add his creativity to their midfield, there will be quite a night in store for Glenn Whelan and Darron Gibson.

There is more than enough talent through this Croatian side to make it an uncomfortable evening for the home side, though, and the core of Trapattoni’s defence, Shay Given, Sean St Ledger and Richard Dunne may have to perform strongly if that unbeaten record in going to be maintained in what might well be an entertaining encounter.