Euro 2012: Duo miss out on a place in Croatia's Euro squad

Defender Dejan Lovren and striker Nikola Kalinic have been left out of Croatia's 23-man squad for Euro 2012.

Lyon centre-back Lovren, 22, has an Achilles tendon injury while Kalinic, 24, is excluded despite scoring in Friday's 3-1 friendly win over Estonia.

"Lovren had two weeks to recover and pass a late fitness test but it was obvious immediately that he was in pain," said coach Slaven Bilic.

Defender Sime Vrsaljko and goalkeeper Goran Blazevic were also left out.

Bilic explained that the decision to leave out former Blackburn forward Kalinic was made to enable him to take additional midfielders in Ivo Ilicevic and Milan Badelj.

"Kalinic is always an option when we need five forwards but four can cover the European Championship," he added.

"Ilicevic is quick and not afraid to take on defenders, meaning that he can be a real bonus coming off the bench."

Tottenham trio Luka Modric, Niko Kranjcar and Vedran Corluka and Everton's Nikica Jelavic are in the squad.

Croatia take on Norway in their final Euro 2012 warm-up on Saturday. They open their campaign against the Republic of Ireland on 10 June.

Croatia squad for Euro 2012

Goalkeepers: Stipe Pletikosa (FC Rostov), Danijel Subasic (AS Monaco), Ivan Kelava (Dinamo Zagreb)

Defenders: Vedran Corluka (Tottenham), Josip Simunic (Dinamo Zagreb), Ivan Strinic (Dnipro), Gordon Schildenfeld (Eintracht Frankfurt), Domagoj Vida (Dinamo Zagreb), Jurica Buljat (Maccabi Haifa)

Midfielders: Danijel Pranjic (Bayern Munich), Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk), Ognjen Vukojevic (Dynamo Kiev), Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla), Tomislav Dujmovic (Zaragoza), Luka Modric (Tottenham), Milan Badelj (Dinamo Zagreb), Niko Kranjcar (Tottenham), Ivan Perisic (Borussia Dortmund), Ivo Ilicevic (Hamburg SV).

Forwards: Mario Mandzukic (Wolfsburg), Eduardo Da Silva (Shakhtar Donetsk), Nikica Jelavic (Everton), Ivica Olic (Bayern Munich)