Serbia travel light for Israel test

Players missing
Krčmarević hopes a reduced travelling party will intensify the competition for places ahead of the main event in Sweden next year, but he has also been unable to call upon a number of players selected for the senior squad's friendly with Bulgaria on the same day. Ivan Obradović (FK Partizan), Gojko Kačar (Hertha BSC Berlin), Zoran Tošić (FK Partizan), Miralem Sulejmani (AFC Ajax) and Stefan Babović (FC Nantes) have all earned promotion, leaving Krčmarević to muse: "Our best U21 players are good enough for the senior level and I'm happy about that. For me, the main thing is I have all my defenders. This will be a chance for certain players to show what they can do in a tough battle."

Added motivation
The former OFK Beograd trainer expects to learn a lot from the Tel Aviv trip. "Israel have a very strong team," he said. "They were at the 2007 European Championship in the Netherlands and fell short at the last hurdle for Sweden. For us, this is a brilliant way to start our final preparations and we will use Wednesday's game in the best way. The fact that their senior team face the Ivory Coast in the same stadium after our match shows the interest there is, and I believe that playing in front of 40,000 spectators will give us additional motivation."

Serbia squad
Goalkeepers: Željko Brkić (FK Vojvodina), Bojan Šaranov (OFK Beograd).

Defenders: Nikola Petković (FK Crvena Zvezda), Marko Jovanović (FK Partizan), Nikola Gulan (ACF Fiorentina), Milan Vilotić (FK Čukarički Stankom), Nemanja Pejčinović (FK Rad).

Midfielders: Miloš Adamović (OFK Beograd), Ljubomir Fejsa (FK Partizan), Milan Smiljanić (RCD Espanyol), Dušan Tadić (FK Vojvodina), Radosav Petrović (FK Partizan), Marko Milinković (MFK Košice), Nemanja Matić (MFK Košice), Adem Ljajić (FK Partizan).

Forwards: Filip Djordjević (FC Nantes), Danijel Aleksić (FK Vojvodina), Rade Veljović (FK Voždovac).