Serbia striker Marko Pantelic believes his side can deal with the lack of home fans in the Euro 2012 qualifier against Northern Ireland and put their campaign back on track.
UEFA ordered the match to be played behind closed doors at Belgrade's Crvena Zvezda Stadium after Serbian fans rioted in the Group C clash with Italy in October, leading to a forfeited match.
A travelling party of around 250 Northern Ireland fans have been given special dispensation to attend, but apart from that the usually intimidating atmosphere enjoyed by the Serbians will be replaced by silence.
The ruling is the latest blow in a stuttering qualification for the hosts, who took just one point from home matches against Estonia and Slovenia to lie fifth after four matches.
Yet Pantelic thinks his team-mates can turn things around.
‘I will go into no match thinking we are underdogs, even now when we play without the help of our supporters,’ he said.
‘At home the aim is to win every match and in that sense there is no change even for this the match against Northern Ireland.
‘The ambience is not normal when there are no people in the stands, but I always look to the future positively. We will not lose hope of achieving our goals.’
Friendly wins on the road against Bulgaria and Israel in Serbia's last two outings hint at a resurgence in form since their last competitive match and Pantelic says the players remain in good spirits despite their lowly standing in Group C.
‘The atmosphere between the players can not be affected or disrupted,’ he said.
‘Four points from four games has not shaken out faith in our capabilities. We believe in each other, which is important.
‘They say you know a hero when he is in trouble, well let us see what we shall be.’
Serbia's prospects have been shaken slightly by the loss of Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic at the heart of their defence, with target man Nikola Zigic also a likely absentee.
Centre-back Branislav Ivanovic conceded Vidic's loss would be felt particularly, but backed Milan Bisevac to slot in as his new partner.
‘We all hope Nemanja is back as soon as possible, it is a great handicap that he is not playing due to injury,’ said the Chelsea man.
‘As far as Bisevac is concerned, we played together at youth level and I remember that I enjoyed being next to him. We were very good together then and he played all 90 minutes against Israel too.’
