FORMER Celtic and Albania defender Rudi Vata says that his countrymen will fancy their chances tomorrow night against ‘boring’ Scotland, because Alex McLeish’s side have no attacking stars.

Vata is now an agent who lives in Scotland, and he is well-versed in the fortunes of both of the national sides who will face off at Hampden Park in the UEFA Nations League opener.

And he thinks that any team, not only Albania, could get a result from the Scots simply by being organised as the don’t have the talent to open up defences.

“I still stay in Scotland, so I have watched the national team a lot, and I have to say it has been mostly boring,” said Vata.

“Where is the attacking talent? People talk about the players coming through now like Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney, and they are very good players. But they are defenders. Where is the Graeme Souness? Where is the Kenny Dalglish?

“In my opinion, Scottish youngsters lack the ambition to reach that level now. People talk about facilities, but players there take what they have for granted. The facilities are amazing, you could hardly ask for more compared to a lot of other countries, but the truth of the matter is that Scottish players simply don’t work as hard as they used to.

“In the past, Scotland had great attacking players of technical quality, players that really made the difference. Now? It doesn’t matter who you are, Andorra or San Marino or whoever, you would fancy yourself to get a result against Scotland if you can be organised and defend, because they just don’t have enough goalscorers or enough attacking quality to open teams up.”

Vata has witnessed his country blossom from outsiders under communist rule who frequently withdrew from matches over political considerations to the democratic society that joined their fellow European nations on centre stage by qualifying for Euro 2016.

But he is concerned too by the lack of young talent that is coming through the ranks in his own country to replace the ageing heroes of France two years ago.

“Everything has changed since my days of playing,” said Vata, who sought political asylum in France in 1991 before going on to eventually captain his country and win 59 caps after the fall of communism.

“Albania has made a lot of progress and is now a modernised country. We couldn’t have dreamed we would be competing at a major championship, so it was a great achievement.

“Unfortunately, Albania are now in a bit of transitional stage. The team from Euro 2016 are no longer all there.

“After democracy came to the country in 1992, some people took advantage of the new freedom to build on land that had previously been used for football. That means we now have a real lack of facilities, not like in Scotland where you have everything you could ever ask for.

“It isn’t the same in Albania, and that has meant the players who have retired or are getting old after the Euro 2016 campaign are not being replaced by young talent coming through.

“A lot of those players were Kosovan/Albanian, or were perhaps born in Switzerland or Germany, and there just isn’t the same level of young Albanian players to replace them.”

Also gone is experienced Italian head coach Gianni De Biasi. Instead, it will be his compatriot, Christian Panucci – who Scotland fans know only too well from his goal that broke Scottish hearts at Hampden in the Euro 2008 qualifiers – who will lead a squad to Glasgow that far from flying on a crest of a wave, are in flux following a failed qualification attempt for the World Cup.

“De Biasi had found a good balance in the team,” said Vata. “Like Scotland, there were no stars, but he had a forged a great team spirit and they fought for one another.

“Now, Panucci has problems. They lost the last two friendlies against Kosovo and Norway, and to be honest, the performances just weren’t good enough. He has had to experiment a lot with the line-up, and the team is really lacking leadership.

“The standout player for Euro 2016 was the centre-back, Lorik Cana. He was the captain, but he has retired now, so somebody else has to fill that void.”

With his less than positive appraisals of the current state of both teams, it is perhaps no surprise that Vata is predicting a close game tomorrow evening and a close group, with Israel the other contenders in the section.

But he did have some words of praise for Scotland head coach Alex McLeish, who he believes might tip the balance in the Scots’ favour.

“They may not be the team they were, but Albania will still fancy their chances,” he said. “They see who plays for Scotland. Yes, Robertson is great, but as I said, he’s a defender.

“I think that all three teams in this group are similar, with no real stand-out attacking stars.

“It may well come down to whoever can be the best organised. Alex McLeish is a great motivator, and Scotland will be hoping that gives them the edge, but it is a very close group.”