THE latter stages of the League Cup, Clough in the dug-out and a host of Scots going hell for leather on the park.

Who says English football is nothing like it was in the good old days?

Brian Clough made the tournament a speciality during his time at Nottingham Forest, winning it four times and losing another two finals over the course of his 18-year-reign at the City Ground.

His first two triumphs in 1978 and 1979 came during that golden era in which the likes of Kenny Burns, Archie Gemmill, Frank Gray, John McGovern and John O'Hare had the club competing and winning both domestically and in Europe.

Times were different when he won the trophy again in 1989 and 1990. The likes of Terry Wilson, Brian Rice, Scot Gemmill and Lee Glover were on the books, of course, but the Caledonian influence was on the wane.

His son Nigel was playing and scoring at centre-forward back then, though, and maintaining a family love affair with the tournament that will see a new chapter written tonight when, in his current guise as a manager, he takes his Sheffield United side to Tottenham Hotspur in the first leg of the semi-final of the Capital One Cup.

And if Clough senior liked the odd Scotsman in his team, you had better believe his boy is taking that fondness to a whole, new level.

At the last count, United, technically, had nine in their first-team squad in Stefan Scougall, Jamie Murphy, Ryan Flynn, Marc McNulty, Stephen McGinn, Bob Harris, Iain Turner, Neill Collins and Jay McEveley, who, you may or may not remember, played for the national team despite being born in Liverpool.

Collins looks likely to leave before the end of the January window, but plans are afoot to bring the one-time Scotland Under-21 and Cove Rangers midfielder Paul Coutts in from Derby County to keep the numbers up. Clough also had two undisclosed bids for Gary Mackay-Steven rejected by Dundee United before the winger agreed a pre-contract with Celtic.

Kenny Burns, who captained Forest to that groundbreaking 1978 League Cup win, sees the preponderance of Scots as a direct result of economics. They make perfect financial sense as signing targets for a club in League One and are driven by the prospect of earning money simply not available north of the border.

It is that opportunity to set themselves up for life that Burns believes gives them the hunger required to deliver results such as the victories over high-flying Southampton in the previous round and Queens Park Rangers in the FA Cup.

"In some respects, the Scots are there through necessity," he said. "Scottish players are cheaper and he is looking to get value for money.

"Someone down here who is very, very ordinary might still cost you £300,000, but you can pick up good, young players from Scotland for £100,000 or so.

"Brian generally took his Scottish players from other English clubs. The difference is that Nigel is generally bringing them down directly from Scotland.

"Scottish players always had that wee bit of grit. I don't know if they have the same reputation for getting a dig in and liking a tackle nowadays, but you can be sure they are still hungry and I am sure Nigel likes that.

"If you can be a success here in England, you can make money and maybe retire when you are finished. Up there, given the way things are, you will probably still have to go back to work when you quit football.

"Football is a doddle compared to getting up at 6am and working 10 hours a day and so many of those who play it do not know they are born.

"I think these Scottish lads are a lot hungrier than many of the English players and have greater passion for it.

"I was hungry. If I had to kick Denis Law to get on in the game, I would - and he was my hero.

"I'd kick any f***er. It didn't matter to me."

Hunger, of course, is one important element, but Clough has developed a particular keenness to recruit Scottish players because he believes that earlier exposure to first-team football pushes forward their development as footballers and personalities.

"The lads are desperate, generally, to come down and play in England," said Clough. "That's great and, of course, they are affordable, but there's a lot more to it than that.

"There are some very young sides up there and they produce players. They give them experience and then, for a variety of reasons, look to sell them on.

"It gives the Scottish lads a really good grounding. You often find, because of that, they are well-rounded players and, just as importantly, well-rounded individuals too.

"It's a tried and tested market for us. There's a good Scottish contingent here and I do think that helps them to settle."