Croatia boss Slaven Bilic has warned Scotland his side will be going flat out to claim another British scalp in Wednesday's friendly match at Hampden.

The Scotland squad has been decimated by seven withdrawals, including five Old Firm players who are set to play a crunch derby on Saturday at Ibrox.

Bilic has lost star striker Eduardo to the injury he suffered on Arsenal duty last month, but he has recalled Ivan Klasnic and Igor Budan to his squad as Croatia play their final friendly before taking part in Euro 2008.

The former Everton and West Ham defender played down the impact the withdrawals will make to new Scotland manager George Burley's first team selection, and believes the hosts will be formidable opponents.

"It is a big blow for any national side to lose seven players and that goes for Scotland as well," Bilic said.

"But I don't think we are facing a lesser test because they have enough quality players to play at the highest level.

"The players that will play are maybe not the big names but they will be full of motivation.

"They are not going to think about the derby at the weekend and they will try to make sure they get another chance.

"They have a new manager as well so it is going to be a very big test for us, and it's the reason why we chose to play Scotland.

"We obviously didn't choose it because of the weather, we chose it because of the great national team that Scotland have and they proved it in the Euro qualifiers."

"We have no time for a lot of experiments.

"We will approach the game as if it is a competitive game for points.

"It is a catch-22 situation for us. We only had two games before May, one was in February (against Holland) and this is our last game.

"On one hand you have to put out your best side because we haven't played together for a long period.

"On the other hand you have to use every opportunity to try something new so we have to find a balance.

"But it is likely that we are going to start with our strongest side.

"It is our first game without Eduardo which is a new situation for us and it is the first game that we have two of our players back from long-term injury, Ivan Klasnic and Igor Budan.

"So we are going to try to do everything in 90 minutes but also, not forgetting about the result, that is also important."

Croatia's profile on the world stage has increased following their dramatic 3-2 win at Wembley which dumped England out of the European Championships at the qualifying stage.

But Bilic is happier for his side to remain as far off the international radar as possible.

He said: "We have had respect, especially since we beat England at Wembley, and so we are not looking for any more.

"But we are never going to be respected as a big nation because we are not a big nation.

"We have beaten England, Germany, Italy and Argentina but we are not a mighty country who can beat England 10 times.

"So we like to stay as underdogs because the whole world appreciates your victories more."

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