Croatia manager Slaven Bilic has said that his team did well to turn the tide in their Group C clash with Italy.

The two teams played out a 1-1 draw in Poznan, leaving Croatia top of the group with four points.

Bilic's side found themselves a goal down at half time thanks to a strike from Andrea Pirlo, but Mario Mandzukic's second-half strike earned a point for Croatia.

"I have to congratulate my team for showing the willpower and character to fight back in the second half," said Bilic. "We had a lot of problems containing [Mario] Balotelli and [Antonio] Cassano in the first half because our midfield was stretched against theirs but we adjusted our strategy in the second half and threw more men forward.

"We weren't good enough in the first half but we regrouped at halftime and in the second half we dominated and got a deserved equaliser."

The 43-year-old admitted that his team are up against it in their final group game against Spain, but revealed that he is confident that they can progress to the knockout stages of Euro 2012.

"We still have work to do in our last group match against Spain but we are confident of progressing to the quarter-finals after this hard earned point," added Bilic.

The final round of group games take place on Monday.