HE is a former England captain who has played more than 300 times for his country, but that does not mean that Paul Collingwood has any intention of going easy on his former teammates in his new role as an assistant coach with Scotland.

The two sides meet in the second round of pool game in the Cricket World Cup on February 23, and Collingwood knows that on that day, only one side will be under real pressure.

"I can tell you from past experience, it is not nice playing against Associate teams; you always have in the back of your mind that there could be a slip-up and you end up having a turnip for your head on the back of the Sun. It does go through your mind. From Scotland's point of view you have to play on that and put the opposition under pressure," he said.

He knows what he is talking about, since he was in the England team when Ireland did the unthinkable in the last World Cup - the penultimate one-day international of his playing career - and now that he is involved with Scotland Collingwood already has the date of that clash fixed in his sights.

"What that would mean for Scottish cricket, to get a victory on that day would be huge," he said with some relish. "I have been involved in games in the past - against Ireland in 2011 World Cup when Kevin O'Brien came out and did something exceptional and special. Now these [Scottish] players have the opportunity to do something like that.

"It is an opportunity to put cricket on the map in Scotland. You can't measure these things but it certainly gets people reading about it and the next generation of sportsmen thinking cricket is a real option, attractive and something they want to do in the future.

"Every team is vulnerable in certain areas. If you can find those areas and expose them, you have a chance. In the end it is a white cricket ball coming down and it it does not matter who is bowling it, what matters is how you adapt your skills to face that team. Scotland have a huge skill level and if they apply it at the right time in the right areas, they can cause upsets."

It is not as though the Scottish players need the kind of mental fortitude that saw Collingwood though his career as he collected cap after cap with his place in the team always appearing to be the one under threat. The trick is to convince them that they are the ones who cannot lose; the other side, New Zealand in game one, England a few days after that, are the ones facing all the stress.

"It's the mental side of the game; you go to big tournaments and sometimes these things can be too much. Somehow, I have to teach these guys how to relax on the big occasions, to out and enjoy them. This is a huge, huge opportunity for the guys to showcase their ability and try to put the opposition under pressure; that is what it is all about," Collingwood added.

The Durham captain was talking at Grange CC as Scotland named a provisional World Cup squad of 24 including five uncapped players.

The party must be trimmed to 15 for the finals in Australia and New Zealand and, of the uncapped members, teenagers Gavin Main, Andrew Umeed and Mark Watt have never even played a List A match. Their fellow newcomers are George Munsey and Ruaidhri Smith.

As expected, Preston Mommsen will continue as captain with predecessor Kyle Coetzer as his deputy.

Coetzer is one of five contracted county players, lining up alongside Durham's Calum MacLeod, Leicestershire's Rob Taylor, Sussex's Matt Machan and Somerset's Josh Davey.

Provisional squad: P Mommsen (captain), K Coetzer, R Berrington, F Coleman, M Cross, J Davey, A Evans, H Gardiner, G Goudie, M Haq, M Iqbal, M Leask, M Machan, C MacLeod, G Main, G Munsey, D Murphy, S Sharif, R Smith, R Taylor, A Umeed, C Wallace, I Wardlaw, M Watt.