The Slovak Republic women's national side look set to be boosted by the return of Zuzana Zirkova for the beginning of their EuroBasket qualifiers in September.

Zirkova has been missing from action after an ankle operation, but coach Daniel Jendrichovsky is confident she will make her comeback in time to help the injury-hit side in their Group E campaign.

While Zirkova has linked up with the team she is not likely to feature in the Velka Cena Slovenska - a warm-up tournament that pits the hosts against Hungary, the Ukraine and Croatia.

"Our participation on this tournament is a part of preparation for qualification so the results are not very important for us," said Jendrichovsky who has played with as little as nine players in his squad during friendly matches this month.

"Zuzana Zirkova will not play for sure but we believe she will be fully in order for important qualifiers against Belgium and Latvia.

"Another player which should join the team is Renata Kozmonova." But despite this boost there is also bad news for the side with the confirmation that a handful of experienced players will not be lining up in the tournament.

"We invited Gatliarova too but she apologised. We sent invitations to [Andrea] Oravcova, [Michaela] Ivanova and [Regina] Palusna as well but they did not answer before now."