Croatia confident despite Spain's play-off advantage

Croatia may have lost 2-1 in the first leg of their UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-off against Spain, but the mood within their camp remains upbeat ahead of Tuesday's return.

Spain took the lead through Adrián in Saturday's first instalment in Burgos, but Dejan Školnik restored parity just a minute later midway through the first half. Though Spain took the advantage once more through Mikel San José prior to half-time, they were unable to extend the cushion they take to Varazdin.

Though Dražen Ladić will be without the suspended duo of Nikola Kalinić and Šime Vrsaljko for that game, he does welcome back Mate Jajalo – who has served a ban of his own – as well as Dejan Lovren and Ivan Rakitić, both of whom were on duty with Slaven Bilić's senior team in Israel.

Ladić is cautiously optimistic about his side's chances. "Of course we can't be too confident, as we are playing against a powerful team, but they won't sleep too well either," he said. "One goal can take us to victory and they know that. I think we can do it; we can defeat Spain and reach the final tournament.

"We had our moments in this match, but also made some mistakes. A team who is serious contenders can't let the opponent score from a corner like we did. It was a big mistake".  Ladić knows that if his charges can cut out such errors, they might just be celebrating a place in next summer's finals in Denmark come Tuesday evening.

Luis Milla, who will be without Javi Martínez, Diego Capel and Roberto Canella on Tuesday,  feels his could have secured a more emphatic advantage. "We feel like we should have had another goal," he said. "But I will leave here happy because of the football we played against a strong team.

"Croatia have a very mature side and we knew they would take advantage of any mistakes we made because they are so quick up front. I'm confident ahead of Tuesday's game. If we play to our strengths then we will have our chances."