STUART McCALL, assistant coach with the national team, has warned England that they will see an entirely different Scotland side when the countries meet in the qualifying section for the 2018 World Cup.
Roy Hodgson’s squad travelled to Glasgow last November for a friendly match at Celtic Park and emerged comfortable 3-1 winners thanks to a first-half goal from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and a brace from Wayne Rooney that rendered Andy Robertson’s late effort no more than a mere consolation.
However, McCall points out that the Scots were still in the process of recovering from an exhausting Euro 2016 win over the Republic of Ireland just four days earlier and expects his side to possess greater focus and added strength as a collective unit when rivalries with the Auld Enemy are renewed.
Scotland will travel to Wembley on Friday, November 11, 2016 in Group F of the World Cup qualifiers with the return fixture scheduled to take place at Hampden Park on Saturday, June 10, 2017.
“England were far better than us in the last game,” conceded McCall. “That was as poor as we have been at home for some time and we were disappointed in ourselves.
“England would expect to beat us if we perform like we did that night, but we have improved and we are improving.
“I think the mental side of it was an issue that night. There was this intense build-up to the Republic of Ireland game beforehand and all the euphoria after the win.
“We were never going to match that, even though it was England.”
McCall also believes that qualifying for next summer’s European Championship finals would do much for the development of Gordon Strachan’s Scotland squad and put them in a better position to compete with England when the World Cup fixtures come around.
“You cannot underestimate what going away for three weeks together helps to create within a squad and we have not had that for years," said McCall, who won 40 caps for Scotland and appeared at three major finals competitions.
The former Rangers and Motherwell manager also takes great heart from the way Scotland played when running England close at a friendly at Wembley Stadium in August 2013 before losing 3-2 to a late goal from Rickie Lambert.
“We gave them a right good game and I’d probably say we’re a stronger squad now,” he stated.
The Wembley match will kick-off at 7.45pm with the return at Hampden scheduled to begin at 5pm. The dates and times of the fixtures add to the need for rigorous police planning and McCall has issued a plea for calm among supporters having witnessed the darker side of the fixture around the European Championship play-off match at Hampden Park in 1999.
“We just want the games to pass incident-free,” he said. “I remember coming to that play-off game and it wasn’t nice.
“Myself and a few of the ex-Rangers lads travelled to the game in a limo after meeting at a place down near the Clyde. We parked up at the top end of the stadium and walked down to the main door, with all their casuals alongside us.
“They had no scarves, just hoodies and parkas zipped up and it was frightening and intimidating.
“I was a Bradford player at the time and, after Paul Scholes scored his two goals and we lost 2-0, I thought: ‘I’m not going to Wembley for the return’. I regretted it.
“The last two games had good atmospheres, though, so I hope the next two are the same.”
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