TIELEN, Belgium, June 13 (Reuters) - Belgian coach Robert Waseige dropped Monaco left back Philippe Leonard for the Euro 2000 clash with Italy on Wednesday amid the first signs of discord in the previously relaxed Belgian camp.

Leonard has been under intense pressure from the local media for his performance in Belgium's 2-1 victory over Sweden on Saturday, although the unhappy looking player blamed a hip injury for his absence from what is being billed as the key game in Group B.

The inclusion of Schalke 04's Nico Van Kerckhoven was the only change from the side wich started the Swedish match, Waseige again preferring Branko Strupar to Luc Nilis up front.

Waseige was coy about why he had dropped Leonard, but when pushed he admitted injury wasn't the only factor. 'I don't really want to answer that question. But perhaps it's to do with a bit of each - injury and quality,' Waseige told a news conference.

Van Kerckhoven impressed when he was brought on for the last quarter of the game against Sweden, although he angered Waseige by getting an unnecessary yellow card for time-wasting. Van Kerckhoven stressed there was no problem between him and Leonard.

'The coach decided I should play and I'll do all I can to repay his confidence,' Van Kerckhoven said. 'Philippe couldn't train 100 percent and I don't know if that influenced the coach. There's no problem between me and Philippe. We're professionals and are concentrating 100 percent on the game. There's healthy competition in the Belgian squad.'

Leonard is showing the strain of being a regular target for the Belgian press. The media has given him a hard time since he first turned up for squad sessions in his Ferrari, one of the fruits of playing his club football in Monaco.

His concentration has also not been helped by the birth of his first child the day before the tournament began.

Despite the problems they faced against the aerial threat and pace of Sweden's strikers, the Belgians said they were confident they could handle whatever the Italians threw at them.

'They have a lot of good players, especially going forward, but our defence was solid against Sweden and I'm pretty sure we can carry that on to the next game,' said reserve defender Eric Van Meir.

Waseige said he would treat Italy quite differently from the side Belgium defeated 3-1 in a friendly in Lecce in November, but would not entertain the idea of playing for a draw.

'Italy were magnificent in the first match. They're always strong when the serious business begins. They have almost too many players of a high standard, they are very well-drilled and their creativity is one of their strong points.

'This is now our most important game so we'll go out and give our best,' Waseige said. 'But I honestly think the Italians respect our players as much as we respect theirs.'

He said he was confident his players would be less tense than on Saturday now they have a victory behind them. The team's central midfield duo of Marc Wilmots and Yves Vanderhaeghe are expecting their role in Wednesday's game to be particularly tough, as the Italians are likely to field a five-man midfield.

'Where Sweden were very physical, the Italians are more of a tactical side. They'll have three in midfield, while we'll be just two. But we've talked tactics with the coach and the wingers will be called upon to give us a hand,' said Vanderhaeghe.

For inspirational midfielder Wilmots, nothing short of victory in the group will do. 'If we don't have confidence now, then we never will. We're in a good position to win through to the quarter-finals, but we're not there yet,' Wilmots said.

'We'll be going for a win, because if we can win the group we'll stay in Brussels for the quarter-finals, which would be a huge advantage for us.'

TEAM: Filip de Wilde; Nico van Kerckhoven, Joos Valgaeren, Lorenzo Staelens, Eric Deflandre; Bart Goor, Gert Verheyen, Marc Wilmots, Yves Vanderhaeghe; Branko Strupar, Emile Mpenza.