Roberston urges Scotland to rise to occasion

Bobbie Jackson
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June 16th 2021, 1:09 pm
Last Updated 3 years ago
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Scotland captain Andy Robertson believes Friday’s meeting with England offers an opportunity to show the world what his side is all about.

After qualifying for their first major competition since the 1998 World Cup, Scotland were drawn alongside neighbours and rivals England in Group D.

2018 World Cup finalists Croatia and the Czech Republic complete the group, with potentially three of the four teams set to advance to the last-16.

England made a winning start to the tournament, beating Croatia 1-0 at Wembley, while Scotland fell to a 2-0 defeat when the Czech Republic travelled to Hampden Park on Monday.

That loss for the Scots makes winning their next outing event more pertinent, as they gear up for a trip to Wembley to face the Three Lions on Friday.

Robertson believes his home nation have shown they are good enough to be mixing it with the best around after qualifying for the Euros, but feels they still aren’t getting the respect they deserve.

“I think we’re probably respected more now because we’ve qualified for a tournament, but we’re still not as respected as much as we would all like,” Robertson said.

“A chance to play against England is a chance to show people that doubt Scottish football what we can do. We gave them a tough game in 2017 and we’ll need the same performance levels as that night.”

Scotland have failed to win in four meetings against the Three Lions, losing three during that sequence, although they were on the verge of claiming a famous victory when they squared off most recently in 2017.

A Leigh Griffiths brace in had Scotland leading 2-1 at Hampden Park into stoppage time, however, Harry Kane salvaged a draw for the visitors in the final moments.

Liverpool ace Robertson admits both nations have improved since that World Cup qualifying clash but he is confident they can stun Gareth Southgate’s men this time around.

He added: “A lot has changed since then, and has changed in the England squad too. It’ll be a tough game, they’re one of the favourites to win the tournament and to beat us but if we can get our game plan right I do believe we can get a result.”

Scotland boss Steve Clarke has some big decisions to make in terms of team selection after several substitutes impressed against the Czechs.

Southampton striker Che Adams came on at half-time and offered a real threat in the final third, while Celtic forward James Forrest also had an impact in the latter stages.

Meanwhile, Kieran Tierney, who missed the opening game, looks set to miss out once again after Clarke confirmed he is unlikely to train on Wednesday.

Clarke said: “Kieran did some light training – but that’s a big difference to normal training. I wouldn’t think he will train on Wednesday. We’ll now just need to see how it develops and see how he does, and then decide from there.”

Bobbie Jackson

Bobbie is another of our editorial team that has a number of years’ experience across all forms of media, providing written, audio and visual content.