The clash between two sides that largely disappointed at the Euro 2016 finals will be a perfect opportunity for one of them to finally show some improvement.

Turkey failed to qualify for the knockout stages in spite of the 2-0 triumph over Czech Republic in their final group fixture as defeats to Spain and Croatia proved difficult to overcome.

Milli Takim will face Croatia on Monday in their opening 2018 World Cup Qualifying fixture, but they first have to negotiate the friendly clash against Russia.

Head coach Fatih Terim caused a great deal of controversy by leaving captain Arda Turan out of the side despite his excellent form for Barcelona.

Mehmet Topal is expected to take over the captain’s armband, while Oguzhan Ozyakup should become the principal playmaker in his absence.

Gokhan Gonul, Caner Erkin, Hakan Balta, Burak Yilmaz and Umut Bulut are the other high-profile players who failed to make the cut.

Fatih Terim has clearly decided to rejuvenate his side, with Harun Tekin, Ahmet Oguz, Caglar Soyuncu, Kaan Ayhan, Tolga Cigerci, Okay Yoksulu, Salih Ucan, Irfan Can Kahveci, Cengiz Under and Enes Unal all boasting one cap or less.

The head coach is expected to stick to his 4-2-3-1 formation, with Cenk Tosun expected to lead the line against Russia.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Volkan – Ozbayrakli, Aziz, Calik, Kaldirim – Topal, Sahin – Emre Mor, Ozyakup, Calhanoglu – Tosun.

Russia were probably the biggest disappointment of the Euro 2016 finals, even though they were unfortunate to have several key men ruled out of the tournament.

Sbornaya Komanda could only pick up one point from three group games, and the national team chiefs in turn appointed Stanislav Cherchesov in Leonid Slutsky’s place.

Seeing as how Russia will host the 2018 World Cup, the new coach will have plenty of time to rebuild the squad and he has already made some serious changes.

The likes of Lodygin, Ignashevich, Aleksei Berezutski, Dmitri Kombarov, Igor Smolnikov, Igor Denisov, Aleksandr Kokorin and Aleksandr Kerzhakov have all been overlooked.

Meanwhile, Soslan Dzhanayev, Fyodor Kudryashov, Mario Fernandes, Sergei Petrov, Ilya Kutepov, Yury Gzainsky and Roman Yemelyanov are the newcomers.

The good news is that Alan Dzagoev returns from injury although he is rated doubtful, while his club teammate Mario Fernandes is unlikely to feature.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Dzhanaev – Shishkin, Neustadter, V. Berezutski, Kudryashov – Samedov, Tarasov, Dzagoev – Shatov, Dzyuba, Smolov.