IVAN PERISIC admits Croatia have yet to show their 'real' selves at Euro 2020 as they prepare for a Group D shoot-out with Scotland at Hampden.
Zlatko Dalic's side have collected just a single point from their matches with England and the Czech Republic so far this summer and are now under huge pressure ahead of their final fixture on Tuesday evening.
The loss of midfielder Billy Gilmour will be a significant blow to Scotland as Steve Clarke's squad aim to build on their draw at Wembley and clinch a place in the knockout rounds.
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And Perisic - who scored in the draw with the Czechs last week - knows Croatia need to raise their levels to see off a Scotland side that have history in their sights on home soil.
Perisic said: “We haven’t been the real ones in our first two matches. We have to improve and be way better.
"It’s not going to be easy but in the past whenever we’ve had to, we were the real team, the real ones, and we should not fear anything.
“I feel that it’s going to be completely alright for Croatia. On the other hand, it is nice that Scotland need to play an open game and I think the match is going to be good to watch.
“Well, it’s not easy for any of the teams when the team loses one of their important players. But Scotland, I’m sure, have solutions for that and an adequate substitute.
"They also play in front of their fans in their own stadium. That’s an additional factor for them.
“But what we’re going to do is, we’re going to look and concentrate on our own game and we’re going to try and do our best regardless of the other factors.
“I think that in the last 10 years or so since I’ve joined the team, or even before, whenever it was the hardest and we had to do what we had to, we were the real ones.
"We came back from the games we were passive. I believe in our own team, I believe in Croatia, and we can hardly wait for the match to start."
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