WARSAW/ZAGREB (EuroBasket 2015) - Poland have decided to make one change in the EuroBasket 2015 roster they had announced previously, while Croatia have called upon a familiar face to replace Oliver Lafayette, who dropped out due to injury.

Last Wednesday, Poland head coach Mike Taylor had included shooting guard Dardan Berisha among the 12 men to represent the nation at EuroBasket 2015.

On Monday however, following the ERGO Supercup in Hamburg where Poland defeated Turkey but suffered back-to-back losses to Germany and Latvia, Poland announced that Robert Skibniewski will replace Berisha on the final EuroBasket squad.

"I would like to thank Dardan for the hard work and dedication he put in during the preparation period," said coach Taylor.

"What we required of him meant that he had to play out of his natural position and we saw the Dardan did not feel comfortable in that role.

"I had a constructive conversation with him and decided it would be best for the Polish national team to have a different type of guard, hence the decision to change the roster."

The 27-year-old Berisha was poised to return to a EuroBasket tournament this September after making a very good contribution to the Polish campaign at EuroBasket 2011, where he averaged 13.2 points and 2.8 assists per game.

Skibniewski meanwhile is a seasoned point guard who played some of his best games in a Polish uniform during last summer's EuroBasket 2015 2nd Qualifying Round, which was the first competition of Taylor's tenure.

The 32-year-old had stepped out for Poland in three consecutive EuroBasket tournaments, from 2007 through 2011, while he had also played in the qualification campaign for EuroBasket 2013 but did not make the final squad.

Poland will play their EuroBasket 2015 Group A opener on 5 September, against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In Croatia, meanwhile, the national team players saw Dontaye Draper report to training camp on Monday, replacing Lafayette who was ruled out of EuroBasket 2015 after sustaining a meniscus rupture in the friendly game against Lithuania on 17 August.

Following the injury, Croatia head coach Velimir Perasovic and his staff considered initially the option to include only two point guards on the EuroBasket team, in captain Roko Leni Ukic and Rok Stipcevic.

Finally though coach Perasovic decided to call upon the experience of Draper, who played an important role in Croatia's run to the EuroBasket 2013 Semi-Finals as their back-up playmaker.

The 31-year-old former Real Madrid, Anadolu Efes and Cedevita Zagreb player had averaged a fantastic 7.0 assists to go with his 6.6 points per game at EuroBasket 2011, although Croatia crashed out of the First Round in that tournament.

"I got a call from HKS [Croatia Basketball Federation] Secretary General Zeljko Draksic who explained to me what the situation was," Draper told the Vecernji List daily.

"I immediately said that I agree to re-join the team because I did not want to miss the chance to play again with these guys who have all these years grown enormously as players.

"I am happy and excited to play again in Zagreb.

"Afterwards the coach called me too, we spoke and I got the impression that he is a sincere and open coach.

"I've heard that he is very demanding but after a year at Efes with coach [Dusan] Ivkovic, I believe that I will adjust easily," the veteran guard added.

Croatia, who are expected to announce their final 12-man squad following next weekend's warm-up tournament in Zagreb will host EuroBasket Group C in their capital city.

Perasovic's troops will play their opener on 5 September against Slovenia and will then take on Greece, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD), Netherlands and Georgia.

Go to eurobasket2015.org for complete coverage of EuroBasket 2015.

FIBA