Croatia eager to restore pride against England after 7-0 loss - Slaven Bilic

Croatia boss Slaven Bilic has said the 7-0 Nations League defeat by England is still playing on his mind.

England ran riot in Rijeka last month with Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka both scoring twice and Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers also on target.

Croatia performed better in a narrow 2-1 defeat by Spain a few days later, and Bilic's side now head to Wembley to face England again desperate to restore some pride.

"Last month's game against England is still in my head," Bilic said at a news conference.

"We showed against Spain that we are who we are, and we want to show that last time was just a bad day.

"I told the players that the way we played against Spain last month is our standard. That is how we want to play, with togetherness, aggression and everything else. We will see tomorrow whether we show that.

"Tomorrow we have a chance to show that what happened in Rijeka was just a collective bad day."

Croatia lie third in the group, behind leaders Spain and England, and Bilic added: "It's very important for us to stay in League A of the Nations League.

"If we finish third in the group, it's great for the Euro 2028 qualifiers."

Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic wants to show England the real Croatia.

He said: "It's a big and special game, as it always is against England. We need to be 100% focused. We need to be aggressive and give everything, especially after that tough defeat to England last month.

"We have a big motive. We want to show who we really are and that we are still Croatia. That game against England in Rijeka was like a blackout."

Ivan Perisic will miss the match with the veteran winger suspended after his red card against Spain.