Tuchel: “We expect a reaction from Croatia”

England head coach Thomas Tuchel believes overcoming the mental challenge of facing Croatia in the UEFA Nations League on Thursday evening will be key to the Three Lions achieving a second victory over Slaven Bilic’s side.

Tuchel’s England enjoyed an emphatic 7-0 victory over Croatia when the two nations met in October in Rijeka; however, the Three Lions’ head coach is expecting a reaction from the visitors to Wembley this week.

 “The Croatian national team showed a reaction straight away, which was impressive,” Tuchel told members of the press in his pre-match press conference at Tottenham Hotspur’s training ground on Wednesday afternoon.

“I think they could have won the match against Spain. They had big changes that they missed and conceded a late goal. It’s [Croatia] a proud county, full of quality football players, so I think they want to show that this [October’s defeat to England] was a one-off.”

“For us, it’s important not to chase the same result, because the result was a consequence of our behaviour, so we need to not forget our behaviour and what we did offensively and defensively. We have to match the intensity and be stronger in the intensity than our opponent. We want to win the match to have a chance to win in Spain, and that’s where our focus is. We expect a reaction from Croatia and we expect to overcome this mental challenge for us to start from scratch.”

Tuchel also confirmed that captain Harry Kane will become England’s record appearance holder on Thursday evening, as he earns his 126th cap.

“He will start as a captain and it is a big occasion to present the Ballon d'Or trophy to our fans and bring it to the country, and have it embedded in the same day where he gets his all-time record for 126 matches, it's just a beautiful, beautiful occasion. 

On top of it, it's a match that matters, so it's not a friendly. It's a Nations League match, and it's a match that matters a lot to us. It is on Harry to digest it as quickly as possible. There will be a lot of praise, a lot emotions before the kick-off – and then we need him in best shape to win the match for us.”