BELGRADE (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Having enjoyed an impressive run as Serbia's coach with second-place finishes at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 and FIBA EuroBasket 2017 to go with an Olympic silver medal at the Rio 2016 Games, Aleksandar Djordjevic has now turned his gaze to next and an immediate challenge.

Djordjevic is fully focused on the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers, with two games at home to start.

The Serbians take on Austria on Friday in the iconic Aleksandar Nikolic Hall, formerly known as the Pionir Hall, followed by a clash with Georgia at the same venue on Monday.

"We'll certainly need strong fan support to get our campaign on the right track," Djordjevic said at a press conference on Wednesday. "The Qualifiers are all about results and we'll have to perform at a certain level to get them. The pressure is there but we are all looking forward to the challenge, most of all the young players who will be making their senior debuts."

With some players unavailable - including the NBA fivesome of Nikola Jokic, Nemanja Bjelica, Milos Teodosic, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Boban Marjanovic - and still others that have not been released by their club sides, Djordjevic will turn to others.

There is never a shortage of talent in Serbia, so Djordjevic is upbeat, although he did not want to name players that he expects to emerge as key men.

"THE PRESSURE IS THERE BUT WE ARE ALL LOOKING FORWARD TO THE CHALLENGE, MOST OF ALL THE YOUNG PLAYERS WHO WILL BE MAKING THEIR SENIOR DEBUTS." DjordjevicDjordjevic

"Some of them will become the national team's backbone in the foreseeable future and that's why they are here now," he said. "They've been in our notebooks for quite some time.

"What we need to do in the build-up to the games is take the pressure off their shoulders instead of piling more of it. They should just go out there and play basketball. These lads are aware what it means to play for the World Cup runners-up."

Milan Macvan is back in the Serbia squad after a strong display at EuroBasket

The Serbian roster selected to face Austria and Georgia includes captain Milan Macvan, one of the key players in Serbia's recent accomplishments. The 28-year-old power forward, who plays his club basketball for Bayern Munich - where he is also coached by Djordjevic - warned that Serbia can take nothing for granted despite their international basketball stature.

"We can't take either Austria or Georgia lightly and I hope we can start our qualifying campaign with two home wins, backed by much-needed fan support," he said. "There are a lot of new players and we will help them blend in quickly so that they can hit the ground running. The younger players have the experience in competing at youth level while the senior ones have already played at the highest level."

A blend of youth and experience, the Serbian players will be out to prove that they can live up to the billing of the more heralded ones who are absent for various reasons, some due to injuries like Macvan's Bayern team mate Stefan Jovic, a versatile point guard who shone at EuroBasket 2017.

"WE CAN'T TAKE EITHER AUSTRIA OR GEORGIA LIGHTLY AND I HOPE WE CAN START OUR QUALIFYING CAMPAIGN WITH TWO HOME WINS, BACKED BY MUCH-NEEDED FAN SUPPORT." MacvanMacvan

Djordjevic refrained from making any excuses and outlined that injecting fresh blood into the side was a gradual process based on patience and the right player selection as key ingredients.

"These are the best 12 players available to us at the moment and they know what it means to play for Serbia," he said. "As far as a change of guard is concerned, it's a constant process and some of these players will certainly step up in the future but they have a big pair of shoes to fill.

"It will require a lot of hard work and determination to match the performances we've had from our stalwarts who are absent at the moment."

FIBA