Subotic has not played for Serbia since last October while Ljajic, who was axed by Sinisa Mihajlovic before the Euro 2012 qualifiers, made a cameo appearance in a 1-1 draw with France in last month’s friendly.
“My exchange of mails and text messages with Subotic has left no doubt that he doesn’t like playing for the national team,” Advocaat, who took over from caretaker Ljubinko Drulovic in July, told a news conference.
“That being the case, I think it’s best to keep players with such an attitude away from the squad to prevent them from disrupting the good atmosphere we have.
“Ljajic is a good player but he has a different mentality and I am looking for players with the right mentality.
“So far I’ve seen that almost everyone is happy to be in the squad and I have no need for players who don’t have a good feeling about the national team.”
SURPRISE INCLUSION
Partizan Belgrade striker Danko Lazovic was the surprise inclusion in Advocaat’s 24-man squad for Serbia’s first two qualifiers away to Armenia on Oct. 11 and at home to Albania three days later.
The 67-year old Dutchman cited Lazovic as an example of the attitude he wanted and said he was confident Liverpool winger Lazar Markovic would deliver despite his poor club form.
“I saw Lazovic in Partizan’s Europa League game against Tottenham last week and the passion and commitment he showed are exactly the traits I am looking for.
“As for Markovic, I am delighted that he is getting more minutes on the pitch and one must bear in mind that playing in the Premier League is much tougher than plying your trade in places like Belgium or Netherlands.”
Advocaat conceded he might have to tinker with his squad as many of Serbia’s key players are usually on the bench for their clubs, particularly defenders such as Manchester City centre back Matija Nastasic.
“Unfortunately, about 50 percent of our squad are down the pecking order at their teams so we will have to use the upcoming training sessions to seek alternative solutions if necessary,” he said.
“Nastasic and (Freiburg) defender Stefan Mitrovic have to improve but, if neither of them meet the standards, I might use (Chelsea’s) Branislav Ivanovic in the centre of defence although I would prefer to keep him in the right back slot.”
(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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