Robin van Persie could make his first appearance for the Netherlands for nearly two years as they face France, live on Sky Sports on Thursday evening.

The Dutch sit third in the Group A standings, three points adrift of joint leaders France and Sweden and a second loss of the qualifying campaign to France could effectively end their hopes of a place at next years finals in Russia, live on Sky Sports Football from 7.40pm.

Fenerbahce striker Van Persie has earned a recall by manager Dick Advocaat, but Vincent Janssen is in good form for his country and should start at the Stade de France.

Image: Dick Advocaat is managing the Netherlands for a third time

Netherlands captain Arjen Robben has urged his team mates not to underestimate their ability and believe in their potential to upset France on Thursday and get their World Cup hopes back on track.

"Of course, France have, in terms of quality, a really good team, but I don't want to talk about them. I think we must not think that we are not as good, we must be convinced of our own qualities and believe that we can beat them.

"I'm always very positive. We can well say that it will be difficult because France have a better team, but if you think like that, then you might as well stay at home.

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"We must go to Paris with conviction. It is a bit like the situation at the World Cup in 2014. If you believe in something and have the requisite ambition, you can go far."

The Dutch finished third in the last World Cup in Brazil after initially being heavily criticised for changing their tactical approach.

But they missed out on qualifying for the 2016 European Championship and have struggled in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

Image: The Dutch sit third in the Group A standings, three points adrift of joint leaders France and Sweden

Defeat in Sofia by Bulgaria in March cost Danny Blind his job as coach with Dick Advocaat returning in his place.

Meanwhile, Didier Deschamps' France have been in mixed form since the Euro 2016 final in Paris, winning seven, drawing two and losing two of their 11 games.

Paul Pogba, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, Alexandre Lacazette and Kylian Mbappe are all in Deschamps' squad.