Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic insists Borna Barisic’s injury woes don’t concern him any more thanks to his club rival Josip Juranovic stepping up to the plate.
Celtic full back Juranovic featured in all four of his country’s fixture this month, including a Nations League win over France in Paris this month.
And his national team boss Dalic hailed his form which has helped ease any concerns he has over the left back position as he switched from his natural right side – just as he did at Celtic last season.
Barisic missed the Scottish Cup Final for Rangers after being forced off towards the end of extra time of the Europa League final against Eintracht Frankfurt just days earlier.
He featured in the first two of Croatia's games in June but was injured for the last two and Juranovic stepped up to play the left back role for Croatia with both Barisic and Borna Sosa both ruled out.
And Dalic was quoted by Croatian outlet Sportske Vovosti as saying: “We don’t care any more (about injuries at left-back).
“Sosa and Barisic are constantly injured, but I will not worry much about that anymore. We have Juranovic, we have a solution.
"Both stoppers and (Josip) Stanisic played very well (against France), but not only them but also Juranovic at left back.”
Juranovic made a huge impact in his debut season at Parkhead after signing from Legia Warsaw for around £2.5 million last year and his versatility was key with the 26-year-old playing on either flank.
And as he reflected on a long season, he said: “At Celtic, I played thirteen games at left-back because our left-back got injured.
“The coach asked me if I could play on the opposite side, and I answered in the affirmative because anything is possible for Croatia
“Fatigue? I have two difficult months behind me because I was out of action for six and a half weeks due to a hamstring injury. I came to the roll call, did two workouts and was immediately on fire for ninety minutes and so on until the end. I’m very tired, but let’s move on.”
