Czech Rep v Montenegro preview

Czech Republic boss Michal Bilek has warned his defence to be on their guard ahead of Friday's play-off first leg against Montenegro.

Bilek warns defenders to be on their guard ahead of qualifier

Czech Republic boss Michal Bilek has warned his defence to be on their guard ahead of Friday's play-off first leg against Montenegro.

The Montenegrins mustered just seven goals in eight Group G encounters but a strong defensive effort proved good enough for them to finish second in the pool behind England.

Bilek, though, has pinpointed the likes of Fiorentina playmaker Stevan Jovetic and Juventus striker Mirko Vucinic as serious stumbling blocks to his side's hopes of moving through to the finals in Poland and Ukraine next summer.

He told www.sportovninoviny.cz: "The opponents have some particularly good attacking players, even though their record of seven goals in qualifying would not seem to back that up."

Now or never

Vucinic accepts the pressure is on as Montenegro chase a place at a major tournament for the first time.

The former Roma man told uefa.com: "We know we've achieved something big, but we're feeling the pressure.

"It's normal because I'm not sure we'll be this close again. This is a special occasion - this is now or never for us. We must be ready for these two games like they are the last of our careers."

Vucinic believes a draw at the Stadion Letna would be a satisfactory result and has targeted an away goal.

"A good result, for example, would be 1-1," he said. "The most important thing is to score. We have the capability up front to cause a lot of problems for the Czech defence."

Jamie Redknapp's Red Hot Tips: Czech Republic and Montenegro to draw 1-1 11/2