Serbia boss Dragon Stojkovic has joked that he would take Aleksandar Mitrovic to the World Cup ‘without a leg’ after he included the Fulham forward in his 26-man squad despite the striker missing the Whites’ last couple of Premier League fixtures.

Mitrovic, Serbia’s leading goalscorer, was reported to have broken two bones in his foot by local media last week – something which Marco Silva denied before the defeat by Manchester United – but the legendary Stojkovic insisted in his pre-World Cup press conference that his number nine, who scored nine goals in twelve games for Fulham this term, would be heading to Qatar.

“Mitrovic will go to the World Cup without a leg. We can even shorten his head … We still have time to change some things, but I highly doubt there will be any. Mitrovic can go to Qatar with one foot, why not? To be unique with a player who plays with one leg, like no one else in the world.”

The Serbians might be sweating on the fitness of their two key forwards ahead of their opening game against one of the pre-tournament favourites, Brazil, on 24 November. Stokjovic doesn’t seem overly bothered about Mitrovic’s injury and remains confident that Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, who isn’t fully fit either, will be available for the big kick off.