Vedran Corluka believes Luka Modric's goal for Croatia in midweek will boost his confidence at Tottenham.

Corluka said: "It was good for Luka and myself to be in a winning team. It lifted our confidence although, of course, we know Stoke will be a lot harder than Andorra."

Corluka is understandably unwilling to lay the blame for the shortcomings of Tottenham's players on their manager. But something beyond the difficulty of integrating a number of new players into a team must explain the poor form of Modric, who has recently been linked with a January move to Juventus.

"We know how Luka plays at Croatia but maybe the players at Spurs don't know yet how he works on the pitch and what he can do," said Corluka. "But he is a fighter and will be determined to be successful in England and show what he can do. He won't want to leave, particularly if the team is struggling. Anyway, I moved down from Manchester this summer, so if he leaves, I'll kill him!"