The Socceroos need a win or at least a draw when they tackle the Danes on June 21 to progress to the next stage.

Denmark opened its World Cup campaign with a 1-0 victory over Peru. France and Denmark lead Group C with three points each, while Australia and Peru have zero points.

Denmark struggled to defeat the South Americans, and technical anaylst Smith believes they will be much more confident on Thursday in their second match.

442 FM reports from Kazan

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"Denmark can guarantee themselves a place in the top two if they beat us, so I don’t expect them to be too cautious," Smith told FourFourTwo.

"I thought they were very fortunate to win against Peru so I think they will fancy their chances of beating us more than they will fancy their chances of beating France, if it goes down to that in the final game. 

"So I think we will see a more adventurous Denmark, which in turn will see us with more players committing themselves when we do break after winning the ball deeper in our half. 

"If we go behind I think we will need to press high and aggressively because Denmark will be in no hurry to attack us, so it should be an interesting game, they usually are.

"The score, the circumstances and time available really determines how the game will be played and in true Aussie-style I hope the lads give it everything they have got."

Smith served as interim Socceroos coach in 2005, worked as a technical manager for Football Federation Australia and assisted Australia's 2006 and 2010 World Cup campaigns.

The 69-year-old believes Bert van Marwijk's side will use the same counter-attacking tactics against Denmark that it employed against France.

"I thought the team put in a good performance against France to give themselves the best chance of getting a draw or maybe pinching a victory," he said.

"If we had said we were going out to play for a win, many would have asked why? A draw would have been an excellent result and one we would have taken before the game. It is very hard to change a team’s style at the best of times.

"Given Bert van Marwijk has already changed our defensive set-up, which ultimately influences how you will also attack, it would be almost impossible to add more variation tactically in the time available.

"I think we will see the same style of play regardless of who we play and it is very similar to many of the teams I have watched in the opening round. To win at least one match, which we have to do, we need to play a bit more like Mexico did.

"They defended deep at every opportunity, hardly pressed the ball up the field but broke with pace and conviction when they won the ball in their own half.

"I think van Marwijk has brought in players with pace (Maclaren, Nabbout) and is also using our quick players like Kruse and Leckie in advanced rather than deeper positions to make counter attacking a possibility.

"Certainly in the warm-up games we played the ball in behind the opposition more than we have done in the past. To win a game we will need more players breaking when we decide to 'have a go’.

"Obviously the game score will influence the attitude of the players, that’s the thing about the World Cup, it is do or die stuff."