Martin Skrtel on England clash, facing Sturridge and more
Martin Skrtel has given his take on a range of pre-match talking points ahead of Slovakia's decisive meeting with England at Euro 2016 on Monday night.
A hard-fought 2-1 victory over Russia earlier this week has given the Liverpool defender’s country a chance to progress to the knockout stages from Group B.
Next they take on the Three Lions, for whom Skrtel’s Reds teammate Daniel Sturridge was the hero last time out, as their own crucial win against Wales was secured.
Ahead of the group’s conclusion, the centre-back discussed the importance of Marek Hamsik to Slovakia, his belief that they can get the result required and the challenge of handling Sturridge.
Read on for his thoughts on the contest.
On facing England…
England is still one of the best teams in the world. It’s going to be tough for us. But I believe we are ready and will get a result. Obviously for us as a small country, it’s massive. It’s our first time in the Euro and all the supporters have travelled over. You can see the connection between the players and the supporters. We are very happy that we got the win for them. It’s a great feeling.
The pressure will be on England but I think they are experienced enough to cope. Everything will be decided on the pitch and I believe we can carry on the performance. We showed heart, character and desire and we can get a result against England that will help us qualify for the next stage.
On coming up against Sturridge…
It’s not only Sturridge, not only [Harry] Kane, not only [Jamie] Vardy – it’s 11 players. Sturridge is a great player, there’s no doubt about it. If it’s going to be him or someone else, we will do our best to keep a clean sheet.
On the influence of Hamsik…
He showed how important he is for our team and he showed his quality. Not only that he scored, but in all the 90 minutes he was working for the team. He did great and he is very important for us. We just hope and believe that he can carry on playing like this in the next game.