'In our match against Croatia I will try to change the way of play in defence and what I have in mind is to play in one line,' said Markov, who is in his first match in charge.

The coach, who gathered the team on a training camp on Monday, told a news conference that he would start the match in Rijeka with two forwards.

For Markov the aim of the friendly is to estimate the condition of the players and clock up their abilities 'compared to such a very strong rival as Croatia who are in a process of preparing for (this year's) World Cup finals'.

'The result is not the most important outcome although when the team of Bulgaria plays, each match is important as it reflects on the self-confidence of the squad and the overall mood of the Bulgarian soccer,' he said.

The match is part of Croatia preparations for the World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan.

Bulgaria and Croatia have been drawn in the same group for the Europian championship qualifiers.

Markov said he would talk to Stuttgart's midfielder Krassimir Balakov, who is the captain of the team, about his plans to continue playing for the Bulgarian team.

Balakov is the only player in the current team who played in the 1994 World Cup final where Bulgaria finished fourth.

Markov would have the same discussion with Kaiserslautern's midfielder Marian Hristov, who suffered a sore injury but has started playing after being out of the game for a long time.