A malevolent smile tiptoes across Grant Hanley's features when the topic of conversation turns to whatever means, fair or foul, he could deploy to halt the goalscoring prowess of Robert Lewandowski. The Blackburn Rovers central defender, who was sidelined with a knee injury when Gordon Strachan's side drew 2-2 with the Poles in Warsaw last October, brings the brawn to this Scotland team, and he affects a mock innocence when the suggestion is put to him that in time-honoured Scottish fashion he should issue the Bayern Munich superstar with an early reminder of his presence on Thursday night.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!" he deadpans. "No, I’d probably say that’s right ... at least a wee bit. That’s maybe part of my game."
All joking aside, while Hanley is entitled to make things as hostile and uncomfortable as possible for the man who has scored 12 goals in his last four appearances for the Bavarian giants, this isn't the 1980s anymore. International football is akin to a non-contact sport these days and any such strong arm tactics are usually merely an invitation to an early bath.
Concentration and organisation was the watchword of Russell Martin, Gordon Greer and the remainder of the back four which stopped Lewandowski from getting on the target in Warsaw, with goalkeeper David Marshall also required to produce at least one stunning save, when the Bayern Munich striker isolated himself with Alan Hutton in Scotland's right back area and cut infield to shoot. The player's recent exploits may be the talk of world football but if selected Hanley plans take a masochistic pleasure in attempting to prevent the 27-year-old from shooting Scotland's Euro 2016 hopes to smithereens.
“I will try to enjoy it and relish it," said Hanley. "That’s why you play football, you want to test yourself against the best. At the moment, his record shows he definitely is one of the best so we will look to enjoy playing against him. You are right to say you can’t back off him and give him too much respect. But in international football you are up against players of good quality, so it’s not just about going out there, trying to run after them and kick them.
“You have to be clever," he added. "A lot of thought has to go into what you are doing. There are times in the game when you might have to dive in, but players like that are clever enough and sharp enough to see when you’re coming. It is as much about stopping the supply to him as it is just stopping him. I think we can take confidence from the last game against Poland. He didn’t score against us that night."
While utilising two screening midfielders in the form of Scott Brown and James McArthur will almost certainly be part of Gordon Strachan's solution, perhaps Scotland's best chance of nullifying Lewandowski is to cancel him out by scoring goals at the other end. This Scotland side have failed to score just once in their eight games to date, Hanley coming as close as anyone during the off-colour display against Georgia with a desperate late header. A play-off place is on the line and suddenly Hanley's clubmate Jordan Rhodes is just one of a number of Scotland forwards in decent scoring form. Rhodes has seven goals in his last five games but Steven Fletcher, Leigh Griffiths and Chris Martin were all also on target for their club side last weekend, while Steven Naismith climbed off the bench earlier this month to notch a hat-trick against Chelsea.
"It’s not all about him [Lewandowski]," said Hanley. "We have good quality players ourselves, so we will be focusing on what we can do to score goals at the other end and win the game. It is going to be difficult for Poland to come to Hampden. We feel we have players they should worry about as well.
“Jordan has been on fire recently, I’ve seen it first hand at Blackburn," he added. "He has been banging them in but it’s up to the gaffer to decide who he is going to play on the night. He loves coming away with Scotland and getting as much playing time as he can. He knows you have to work hard and score goals at your club to have a chance of playing for your country."
A draw could yet be enough for Scotland if the Republic of Ireland cannot win another point, but Strachan is thinking positive and Hanley also feels three points is a pre-requisite. “I think we need to win the game," he said. "If we play in a similar way to how we played against Germany last month, that could be enough. It would be agony it we fall short at this stage of the campaign, so we will be going all out."
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