Djukić pleased with Serbian progress

Serbia coach Miroslav Djukić is pleased with the progress his side are making as preparations continued on Wednesday with a 3-0 victory against second division side FK Novi Sad.

Janković double
It was Serbia's only friendly game ahead of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship and Djukić put it to good use by giving all his players a run out. He started with 4-2-3-1 but tried a number of formations in a match Serbia won courtesy of a pair of first-half goals from Boško Janković – the second a penalty - and a 47th-minute Djordje Ivelja strike.

Satisfied
While thankful his squad is fully fit, Djukić believes there is plenty of room for improvement after Serbia spurned a number of chances to win by a more emphatic scoreline. "I saw what my players can do on an individual level and what we can do as a team," he said. "I'm satisfied and we will continue with our work, but we cannot be delighted after that. We just have to keep working as normal."

'Confidence high'
Janković, upon whom Serbian hopes are pinned this month, was delighted to play for the Under-21s again after scoring in the senior side's victory in Finland on Saturday. "It was a good game, especially for keeping our confidence high, and also for the atmosphere in the squad," he said. "I believe we can improve for our next match."

Petković returns
Left-back Nikola Petković returned to the training camp in Novi Sad on Wednesday from Ankara where he had traveled to sign a four-year contract with Turkish side Gençlerbirligi SK to complete his transfer from FK Vojvodina. Though he did not play in the friendly, he was able to train and is fully focused on the task ahead. "I'm happy because I have the chance to play in a foreign country," he said. "I'm satisfied because everything about my transfer is finalised so I can now concentrate fully on the EURO."

Nijmegen base
The Serbia squad return to Belgrade on Friday a day before setting off for the Netherlands. Their first press conference will be held at 13.00 CET Sunday at the team hotel, the Golden Tulip, in Nijmegen, and their last training session before their first match against Italy will take place later that afternoon starting at 17.00 CET.