Serbia coach Sinisa Mihajlovic talks up his new caps

Serbia coach Sinisa Mihajlovic has included uncapped forwards Nenad Krsticic and Alen Stevanovic in his 25-man for squad for 2014 World Cup qualifiers at home to Belgium on Friday and away to Macedonia on 16 October.

Having said nothing less than two wins out of two will do for Serbia, who top of Group A on goal difference, Mihajlovic heaped praise on the Serie A duo and Partizan Belgrade striker Marko Scepovic, who is yet to make an international impact.

“Krsticic [Sampdoria] and Stevanovic [Torino] are versatile players who deserve to be here with impressive performances for their clubs and I also have a lot of faith in Scepovic, who is a lethal finisher,” said Mihajlovic.

Serbia – who opened with a 0-0 draw at Hampden against Scotland before thrashing Wales 6-1 – Belgium and Croatia all have four points from two games and Mihajlovic acknowledged the outcomes of the upcoming two rounds of games before the winter break could be crucial for Serbia’s bid to reach the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

Squad: V Stojkovic (Partizan Belgrade), Z Brkic (Udinese), D Kahriman (Tavriya Simferopol). Defenders: B Ivanovic (Chelsea), A Kolarov (Manchester City), N Subotic (Borussia Dortmund), M Nastasic (Manchester City), N Tomovic (Fiorentina), M Bisevac (O Lyon), N Maksimovic (Red Star Belgrade), A Lukovic (Zenit St Petersburg). Midfielders: S Mijailovic (Red Star Belgrade), L Fejsa (Olympiakos Piraeus), A Ignjovski (Werder Bremen), R Petrovic (Genclerbirligi), N Matic (Benfica). Forwards: Z Tosic (CSKA Moscow), N Krsticic (Sampdoria), M Scepovic (Partizan Belgrade), D Tadic (Twente Enschede), D Lekic (Osasuna), F Djuricic (Heerenveen), A Stevanovic (Torino), M Sulejmani (Ajax) L Markovic (Partizan Belgrade).