Matic slams Serbia team-mates: I'll quit if things don't change

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The Chelsea midfielder was furious after his side's 4-1 defeat to the Czech Republic and described the attitude of some of his fellow internationals as "unacceptable"

Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic has hit out at his Serbia team-mates and threatened to quit the national team unless attitudes change.

Serbia were comfortably beaten 4-1 by Czech Republic in Ostrava on Friday, suffering their seventh defeat in 11 matches.

Having failed to qualify for Euro 2016 - the third successive major tournament they have missed - and beaten only Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Greece over the past year, Matic has become deeply frustrated.

"I always try to lead by example but some people don't want to see that," he told reporters.

"The attitude of some players is unacceptable, not just on the pitch but off it too and it was obvious from the moment we got together on Monday.

"I told our coach [Radovan Curcic] there is no point in me carrying on with the national team if things don't change."

Referencing Serbia's heated 2-0 victory over rivals Albania, Matic added: "When our personal reputations were on the line we did everything right.

"But I'd really like to know whether some of my team mates apply the same poor work ethic at their clubs as they do in the national team most of the time."

Savo Milosevic, the national team's managing director, has admitted he expects to lose his job on the back of the disastrous campaign and echoed Matic's thoughts.

"Reading between the lines of Curcic's statements after the Czech game, one could see that he is on the brink of stepping down and I am in the same boat with him," he said.

"I have asked for support and patience for the players for the past eight months but their lack of commitment is quite simply indefensible."