Turkey dealt a blow with the loss of Emre ahead of Switzerland clash

The midfielder pulled up with a hamstring problem during training and will miss the crucial Group A encounter at Basel's St Jakob-Park Stadium.

"Unfortunately, Emre is not going to play tomorrow," said Turkey coach Fatih Terim.

Out: Emre, in action here against Portugal, will not line up against Switzerland

"He had a slight injury to his hamstring and he wasn't feeling well this morning. He had an MRI and results have shown that there's an edema of two to three centimetres.

"Not having Emre is a problem for us because his role is not that simple to cover by another player.

"But then again Switzerland will not have their injured captain Alexander Frei."

Turkey will be sweating on the return of defensive duo Servet Servet Cetin and Gokhan Zan, who will be given until the last minute to prove their fitness.

"They have both had a hard time but they are really devoted to the team," said Terim.

"We will make a decision on whether they will play tomorrow."

Terim, whose side lost 2-0 against Portugal in their opening game, is nevertheless confident that his team can qualify from the group stage.

"Everyone is aware of how important this game is," he said.

"We are confident in ourselves and I believe we will succeed in this tournament.

"For us, the game against Portugal wasn't the key but this one is.

"Of course, every team wants to begin a competition with a win but it didn't happen but that doesn't mean that we can't do well.

"In Euro 2004, we started with a defeat and then we did well."

Failure is not an option for Switzerland coach Kobi Kuhn, either.

"You never consider the possibility of a defeat," he said.

"We are aware that if we lost tomorrow, then the tournament for us would be reduced to just one game, against Portugal.

"We have a young team that has a future but we are going to win tomorrow."

Kuhn, whose side lost 1-0 to the Czech Republic in their first encounter, knows his men will face tough opposition, though.

"Turkey are 12th in the world ranking and we are quite a bit away from there," he said.

"But you can see that this is a strong team on its merits. We will have to fight hard to beat them."

The last time both teams met was in a qualifying play-off for the 2006 World Cup, when Switzerland prevailed on away goals.

The game was, however, marred by violent incidents involving players from both sides following the final whistle although Kuhn believes any ill feeling has passed.

"This issue is almost three years old now and as in everyday life football evolves very quickly," he said. "This thing is over and done with."

Switzerland will have all their players available with the exception of Frei, who has been ruled out for the tournament having sustained a knee injury in his team's opener.

"Frei cannot play," said Kuhn. "But he is very important for us and he will remain with the team as he is such a big support for us."