Russia is set to play Austria in Innsbruck later on Wednesday before facing Turkey in Moscow on June 5.

"There are only two games left before the World Cup. [Stanislav] Cherchesov will put the squad set to play at the tournament through their paces. The opponents [Austria] are quite tough. This is a good team that even includes players from Bayern Munich, such as [David] Alaba. This will be a challenge... These two games will clearly show the state of things in the team," Tarkhanov said.

He added that the center back position in the Russian team gave him cause for concerns.

"[Sergei] Ignashevich is an experienced guy. He plays for CSKA Moscow, he played in the Champions League. The team needs a second center back whom he could play with, considering the absence of the Berezutski [brothers]," Tarkhanov said.

38-year-old Ignashevich, who retired from international football following UEFA Euro 2016, was called up to the squad to replace injured Rubin Kazan defender Ruslan Kambolov.

Russia will host its first-ever World Cup from June 14 till July 15 in 11 cities across the country.